The twilight battlefield shook.
The Twilight Behemoth loomed above, its body a patchwork of steel, root, wing, and void. Five maws screamed at once, venom dripping, fire blazing, lightning arcing. Its wings blotted out the broken sky, and its shadow stretched across every shard of desert, forest, storm, and mountain.
Before it stood five figures, battered yet unbroken. Their crystals blazed with new light, etching their oaths into their hearts.
Paladin. White Mage. Monk. Dragoon. Warrior.
Together, they faced the monster.
The Behemoth struck first. Its iron arm came crashing down, roots lashing, venom spraying.
Zack moved without hesitation. His bastard sword shone with holy radiance as he planted himself before the blow. The impact thundered, the ground fracturing, but his barrier held, light flaring outward to shield the others.
"Over my dead body!" he roared, holding the strike until the Behemoth staggered back.
Aerith raised her staff. Lilies burst from the ground, blooming in impossible numbers, their glow cleansing the poison cloud and healing Zack's bleeding arms. Her voice was steady, clear as a bell.
"Stay standing. I'll keep you all safe."
The Behemoth roared in fury. Flames surged from its Chimera maw, lightning arced from its horns, and black fire poured from its wyvern throat.
Galuf surged forward, fists blazing with chakra. He weaved between blasts, his strikes hammering into the Behemoth's leg joints, each punch cracking armor with precision. His laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Hah! You think old bones can't dance? Think again!"
Noctis warped skyward, spear trailing flame. The Behemoth swung its wings to swat him from the sky, but he twisted midair, pushing higher. His spear flared with Bahamut's light as he roared:
"This ends from above!"
He dove, spear-first, striking into the Behemoth's back with a blast of dragonfire.
The monster shrieked, staggering.
Reks charged through the storm, his axe dripping blood and fury. The Behemoth turned, hammer-arm swinging. The blow smashed into him, bones cracking — but he did not fall. He roared, channeling the pain, swinging his axe in a berserker cleave that split through root and iron alike.
"I endure!"
The Behemoth reeled, but it was far from beaten.
The twilight realm screamed as the Behemoth unleashed its full fury. Its roots tore the ground apart, its wings stirred hurricane winds, its flames turned the air to fire.
Zack shielded Aerith from a storm of debris, his sword glowing brighter with every strike intercepted. His arms shook, blood dripping down his palms, but he grinned.
"You'll have to do better than that!"
Aerith planted her staff in the ground, blossoms exploding in radiant waves. Holy light surged, closing wounds, burning corruption, giving her allies the strength to stand again. But every spell drained her, her body trembling, sweat beading on her brow.
Galuf leapt into the storm of roots, fists flying faster than sight. Lightning seared his back, fire scorched his beard, venom burned his skin — yet he pressed on, laughter hoarse but fierce.
"Body, mind, spirit! All as one!"
Noctis warped again, his spear glowing, dragonfire trailing behind him. But the wyvern wings lashed, black fire searing him midair. He screamed, body smoking, before he warped again at the last instant, reappearing above the Behemoth's head. His grip shook, but he held his lance firm.
"My fate's mine to wield — not theirs!"
Reks took blow after blow, his body breaking with each impact. His axe dripped with his own blood, but he swung harder, his voice a roar of defiance.
"You can't kill me! Not while they're still standing!"
Still, the Behemoth pressed them to the edge, its cries rattling the shattered twilight.
They regrouped, gasping, battered, bloodied. The Behemoth advanced, every step a quake. Its five maws burned, gathering an orb of annihilation in their throats. The very air warped around the growing light, stones cracking, lilies withering, storms freezing in place.
Zack raised his sword. "Alright, no more solo heroics. We do this together."
Aerith's smile flickered, tired but warm. "About time you admitted you need me."
Galuf cracked his knuckles. "Let's make this old monster regret ever being born."
Noctis spun his spear. "One more leap. Just need an opening."
Reks lifted his axe, blood dripping from his chin. "Make one, and I'll split it open."
They nodded once. Then they moved.
Zack intercepted the Behemoth's hammer strike, his blade glowing as he anchored the blow. "Now!"
Galuf surged in, fists blazing, hammering the exposed joints with a flurry of strikes. "Break!"
Noctis warped skyward, spear trailing flame, aiming for the wings. "Pierce!"
Reks roared, swinging his axe in a berserk cleave that tore through root and ichor. "Fall!"
Aerith lifted her staff, lilies exploding into radiant light, holy magic flooding into their weapons. "Strike true!"
Their combined assault slammed into the Behemoth. Its wings shredded, its roots burned, its armor cracked. It shrieked, staggering, its body unraveling.
But it was not done.
The Behemoth drew in everything — poison, storm, flame, void. Its five maws opened wide. The roar building inside it was not sound but unmaking, a cry meant to erase the battlefield itself. Twilight bent inward, ready to collapse.
Slowly, Zack stepped forward. He planted his feet, sword blazing like a sun, his back to his friends. "Over me, not them."
Aerith's staff lifted, her voice ringing clear. "Light, protect them!"
Galuf's fists tightened, chakra flaring. "One strike, one spirit!"
Noctis soared, spear blazing with dragonfire. "Pierce the sky!"
Reks charged, his axe burning crimson. "Endure, then destroy!"
The Behemoth roared. Twilight shook. Reality cracked.
And the five answered.
Zack's barrier caught the annihilation, silver fire holding back oblivion.
Aerith's lilies burst in radiant bloom, cleansing the storm and anchoring them to hope.
Galuf struck the monster's stance apart, fists glowing like suns.
Reks's axe cleaved into its core, ripping shadow and void asunder.
And Noctis descended from the heavens, his spear a comet of Bahamut's flame, piercing the Behemoth's heart.
The impact was cataclysmic. Light and flame tore through the Behemoth, its five voices screaming before dissolving into shards of twilight. The storm stilled. The roots burned away. The wings shattered into dust.
Silence fell.
The five stood together, bloodied but alive. Their crystals glowed, their breaths ragged.
Zack lowered his sword, chuckling weakly. "Guess… we passed."
Aerith leaned on her staff, smiling softly. "We didn't just pass. We became what we were meant to be."
Galuf laughed, his beard singed and bloody. "Best fight I've had in years!"
Noctis said nothing, but he raised his spear skyward, the light of Bahamut's fire still burning in his eyes.
Reks leaned on his axe, scarlet fury fading into strength. "Together… we endured."
The twilight battlefield cracked, dissolving into light.
And when it cleared, they stood once more in their guildhalls — no longer apprentices, but champions reborn.
Paladin. White Mage. Monk. Dragoon. Warrior.
Five oaths sworn. Five paths claimed.
And the war against Chaos had just gained its first true vanguard.