"NOW!"
Kurai didn't wait.
Before the echo of Skuld's cry faded, she was already in motion—darkness erupting from her keyblade like a detonating star. The Shadow Sovereign cleaved the air, and with a roar of shattering pressure, Abyssal Severance fell like judgment.
The Abysscaller staggered backward, its heart core cracking as a blade of pure shadow energy split through its chest. The blast carved through both light and sea, the resulting shockwave throwing Skuld, Maui, and Moana off their feet.
But the creature didn't die.
It screamed.
A scream that made the world drown.
The ocean rose like a wall and collapsed over them. Everything turned black—then cold, then crushing.
For an instant, there was no sound, no sense, no sky—just weight.
Then came light—Skuld's light.
A shimmering dome of air burst outward, wrapping the group in a flickering sphere of silver-blue radiance. The crushing pressure eased, and air rushed into their lungs.
Skuld gasped and steadied her breathing. "We can breathe—but the barrier won't hold if it hits us like that again!"
Kurai floated above, already reforming her stance, her dark armor glowing faintly. "Then I'll make sure it doesn't get the chance."
She opened her palm.
Shadow Flare Storm.
Dozens of small, black fireballs ignited around her—tiny dying suns of corruption. They hovered for a breath before screaming toward the Abysscaller's enormous form, chaining into a barrage of explosions that tore through the murky depths.
The light revealed its body for only a second—but that was enough. Its form shimmered, transparent, its flesh made of water. Every wound sealed immediately as it siphoned more ocean into itself.
"It's healing from the sea!" Skuld called, her voice echoing strangely through the barrier.
"Then kill it faster." Kurai extended her keyblade again, eyes gleaming. Umbra Aeroga.
A storm of black wind erupted around her, spinning with lethal speed. The dark currents ripped through the Abysscaller's watery limbs, scattering them like shredded silk—but every droplet that fell simply reformed, reshaping into new limbs.
It moved—fast. Faster than anything that size should. Its coils twisted like rivers, vanishing into the gloom before striking from behind. Kurai twisted, vanishing into shadows.
Umbral Step.
She reappeared above the strike, the creature's massive tendril missing by inches. Her counter was instant—Nightfall Vortex. Darkness exploded outward as she spun her keyblade, forming a spiraling cyclone that dragged the Abysscaller's tendrils inward.
"Come closer," she whispered.
It did.
When it was almost on her, she vanished again, leaving a storm of shadow clones swirling in her place—Eclipse Mirage. Each clone mimicked her movement, slashing through water with coordinated precision. The real Kurai dropped from above, spinning into an Abyssal Severance that tore through the Abysscaller's face.
The blow detonated like thunder underwater, shaking the seafloor.
Maui gritted his teeth. "Remind me to never piss her off."
Skuld blinked through the light, heart pounding. Kurai's combat rhythm was terrifying—predatory. Every swing was followed by another, every spell layered atop the next. Even down here, surrounded by endless water, she turned the battlefield into her domain.
But the Abysscaller was not idle.
It roared again—an inhuman sound that carried through the water like a stormfront. The world around them moved. The current reversed, pulling them downward into a spiraling abyss.
"Currents are shifting!" Skuld shouted. "It's trying to crush us!"
Kurai crossed her arms. Dark Reflect.
A dome of pure shadow enveloped them, absorbing the pressure wave before shattering outward in explosive release. The rebound sent dozens of dark projectiles into the Abysscaller's body—each impact igniting bursts of violet flame.
Still, it didn't stop moving. The sea was its body. Every strike they landed bled into nothing.
Skuld grit her teeth, summoning her claws—Zephyr Talons. "Then we'll match its speed."
She vanished into a cyclone of radiant wind, streaking across the water like lightning. Her claws struck in rapid succession—Hurricane Rend, Razor's Fang, Gale Barrage—slashes of compressed air carving glowing trails through the Abysscaller's translucent flesh.
For every wound Skuld made, Kurai carved another deeper, faster, darker. The two women moved like predators circling prey—the lightstorm and the shadowstorm colliding in perfect, destructive rhythm.
Maui and Moana barely kept up, riding the currents from a distance, Moana calling the currents to shield them from stray bursts.
The Abysscaller dove lower, dragging them all with it. The light dimmed until even Skuld's barrier barely glowed.
"Too deep!" Moana gasped. "It's pulling us in—!"
"Then we stop falling," Kurai snarled.
Her eyes flashed crimson. "Void Dominion."
The entire ocean went black.
The Abysscaller faltered. For the first time, it couldn't see. Only Kurai could—the world was hers now. She blitzed through the dark, her keyblade carving streaks of violet light through the shadows. Chains burst from her weapon, glowing black—Black Hole Chain!—snaring the creature's limbs and dragging it downward, pinning its colossal body.
"Now!" she shouted. "While it's bound!"
Skuld didn't hesitate. She channeled light through her claws—Radiant Gale! Twin streams of radiant air burst from her arms, cutting across the creature's glowing chest. The Abysscaller convulsed, the wound flashing bright green—Te Fiti's trapped heart struggling inside.
"Got it!" Skuld cried.
But the ocean roared in response.
A tidal vortex surged beneath them, shattering Kurai's bindings. The pressure broke Void Dominion instantly. Darkness peeled away as the Abysscaller emerged anew—its form flickering between water and shadow. Without Te Fiti's trapped heart, it seemed its form was beginning to fail.
It opened its mouth and unleashed a massive pulse. Kurai raised her keyblade in front of her chest. "Dark Thundaga!"
Corrupted lightning lanced through the sea, colliding with the pulse midstream. The explosion sent rippling shockwaves through the water. Even with her strength, the backlash drove Kurai back dozens of meters.
She glaring upward at the distorted surface light. "Enough of this."
She turned to Skuld, voice sharp. "We're ending this here."
Skuld's eyes widened. "You're going to—"
"—open the Corridor." Kurai raised her keyblade, shadow energy spiraling outward. "If it wants the ocean, I'll take away the ocean."
"But it's too big—!"
"Then make it smaller," Kurai growled. "Freeze it again."
Skuld clenched her fists. "Fine!"
The two moved as one.
Kurai raised her keyblade overhead—darkness expanding into a spiraling gate that distorted everything around it. The water churned, bending inward toward the forming vortex. Skuld followed, her claws glowing with freezing radiance.
"Freezing Gale—Tempest Lattice!"
She spun through the depths, generating a storm cage of ice and wind around the Abysscaller, compressing its size and slowing its movement. The freezing wind condensed, locking its watery mass into a giant crystalline shell.
"Now, Kurai!" Skuld shouted.
Kurai grinned and slammed her keyblade into the vortex. "Black Hole Chain!"
Dark chains burst outward, wrapping the frozen Abysscaller and dragging it into the swirling Corridor. The sea bent violently—currents twisting, the vortex devouring light, sound, and water.
The world folded inward.
Then, suddenly—
They crashed onto solid ground.
The Corridor snapped shut behind them with a thunderclap of displaced water. Black waves splashed across the scorched shore as the Abysscaller slammed down, half-liquid, half-solid, writhing in confusion.
Skuld gasped for air. "We're… back… on land."
Kurai stood beside her, armor cracked and gleaming, shadows still coiling off her shoulders. "Told you it'd work."
Maui coughed out seawater, staggering up. "You two are completely insane."
Kurai smirked. "You're welcome."
The ground trembled again. The Abysscaller raised its head, water pouring off its body like blood. Its glow pulsed, weaker now, but angrier.
Skuld's eyes narrowed as she summoned her keyblade again. "Then let's finish it."