It was born of greed, a scar upon the natural order. The Humanoid of Calamity was a monstrous entity from a realm beyond our own, a being whose fundamental nature was to absorb, to consume, to maintain the very spiritual energy that flowed through the earth. Humanity, in its boundless avarice, saw not a force of nature, but a weapon. They shackled it, experimented on it, and in doing so, they forged their own annihilation. It evolved, twisted by human ambition, until its only purpose was to consume everything in its path. It had become the Humanoid of Calamity in truth.
Deep within the subterranean levels of the First Division Laboratory, the transformation reached its zenith. A form, once amorphous and alien, twisted and solidified into a purple, human-like body, eyeless and perfect in its horrific symmetry. Then, it released a silent scream.
A wave of intense, dark energy erupted from its core, a shockwave of pure negation that tore through steel, concrete, and flesh with equal indifference. In an instant, the heart of the First Division was obliterated, leaving only a crater of smoldering ruin.
From the settling dust and the ground bleeding purple energy into a bruised sky, a figure rose. The Humanoid of Calamity pushed aside mountains of rubble with an effortless, terrifying grace, as if simply shrugging off a light blanket. It stood, a silent sentinel of doom.
"That's it… the Humanoid of Calamity," a soldier whispered, his voice cracking over the comms.
A man with grim eyes, Lloyd, watched from a vantage point, his jaw tight. "Its strength is immeasurable."
"I fear that any move we make will be our last," another unit stammered, the tremor in his voice betraying his terror.
Nearby, a young man named Shiro could only stare in disbelief. The scale of the destruction, the sheer presence of the thing, was paralyzing.
"No, no, we weren't trained for this!" a third soldier cried out, backing away. "This is beyond what we signed up for! That thing is going to shred us into pieces!"
"Don't you dare be a weakling!" a sharp, commanding voice cut through the panic. It was Misuzu, her face set like stone beneath her helmet. "You have a family, right? Then you have people to protect. This… this is exactly what you signed up for." Her gaze swept across the terrified squad. "All units… FIRE!"
A symphony of technological warfare erupted. Bolts of plasma, high-caliber rounds, and concussive shells streaked towards the silent figure, impacting in a storm of fire and thunderous explosions. The air shimmered with heat.
Shiro, however, didn't see the fire. He saw the Calamity. It was ignoring the barrage, a faint, dark aura beginning to ripple around its form. And then… it grinned.
"Get down!" Shiro screamed, his voice raw.
It was too late.
The Humanoid of Calamity tilted its head back and roared. Not a sound of pain or anger, but a release. A sphere of violent purple energy expanded from its body, silent for a heartbeat before the world tore itself apart.
BOOM.
The force of the explosion was absolute. When the dust settled, the battlefield was a charnel house. A female soldier pulled off her cracked helmet, her ears ringing. Her eyes fell on a comrade lying a few feet away. The top half of his head was simply gone, burned away. His remaining eye stared into nothingness, his mouth moving in a silent, final plea for help.
Her scream tore through the sudden, awful silence.
Shiro stood, his body trembling, his ears deafened by the blast. As he took a stumbling step back, his boot knocked against something. He looked down. A severed hand lay beside his foot, the fingers still curled. He stared, numb. "What… what is this?"
Nearby, Misuzu pushed herself up, her mind racing. 'Most of our unit… annihilated in a single blow. Is this how it ends? No. They were weak. But I… I am stronger!'
A surge of defiant energy, her chi, flared around her. "Go to hell, you piece of shit!" she roared, charging forward, a ball of concentrated power forming in her palm.
She never saw it move. One moment she was charging, the next, a phantom force had erased the entire left side of her body. She crumpled mid-stride, a single, confused sound escaping her lips. "Huh…?"
Lloyd watched her fall, a cold fury settling in his heart. "This can't end like this!" he bellowed. "All surviving units, evacuate the area! Looks like I'll have to finish this alone."
"You're not alone," Shiro said, appearing at his side, his face pale but determined.
Lloyd glanced at him. "Are you willing to throw your life away so easily?"
"No," Shiro replied, his fists clenching. "But this is what we were created for, right? Now… let's end this."
A grim smile touched Lloyd's lips. "If we make it out alive…"
Without another word, they moved. A synchronized blur of motion, they ran towards the epicenter of the destruction. Shiro vanished, reappearing in an instant directly in front of the Calamity. It was fast, its fist already a blur aimed at his face. But Shiro was faster, pivoting to deliver a devastating kick to its gut that sent the monster crashing backward through the rubble.
Lloyd was already in the air, elemental energy crackling around his hands. He rained down blasts of pure force, hammering the creature into the ground. But the Calamity was adaptive. It tore a chunk of the earth from the ground and hurled it like a meteor, then teleported behind Lloyd in the same motion.
Lloyd merely smirked. "Too predictable." He spun, letting the momentum carry him, and slammed an energy sphere point-blank into the creature's chest, sending it rocketing skyward.
Shiro was there to meet it, grabbing the eyeless face and using his own weight to slam it back down, driving it through the skeleton of a broken-down building like a nail.
The Calamity roared, not in pain, but in annoyance. It unleashed a sharp, piercing shockwave that threw both Shiro and Lloyd back. Then, it began to change. An intense aura flared around it, and the very air grew heavy. It was absorbing the residual spiritual energy from the land, the fading elemental powers of the dead. Its body swelled, becoming more muscular and defined. Dark purple lightning arced down from the heavens, striking its form, and with a burst of impossible speed, it was before them again.
Its hammer-fist came down. Lloyd and Shiro barely dodged, the shockwave of the missed punch alone shattering the ground beneath their feet.
"Burn!" Shiro yelled, unleashing his elemental fire. A barrage of flame-wreathed attacks peppered the monster. He and Lloyd became blurs of motion, one trailing a red-pink aura, the other a fiery orange-red, circling the dark purple core of their enemy. Their attacks connected in a furious, deafening crescendo, the force of their collision cracking the very continent. The elemental energies clashed and merged, culminating in a colossal, colorful explosion.
From the heart of the blast, the Humanoid of Calamity emerged unscathed, radiating an immense pressure that pinned them in place. It moved faster than thought, grabbing both men by their heads and slamming them into the earth. It didn't stop, dragging them through rock and soil as if they were rag dolls. Shiro managed to free a hand, unleashing a point-blank fire barrage into its side.
The Calamity roared, finally releasing them only to unleash a flurry of speed-punches that sent Shiro flying through a ruined building. Lloyd recovered faster, landing nimbly and countering with a blow of such concentrated force that a web of cracks spiderwebbed across the monster's torso.
Its weakness! Lloyd had found it.
The Calamity screamed, a sound of genuine horror this time. In response, it released a torrent of energy that exploded upward in a pillar of destruction. It was adapting again. Purple lightning struck Lloyd, and the ground beneath him fractured, spewing molten lava. Lloyd flew upward, moving with the speed of light, firing countless energy rays from all directions. The entire First Division crater glowed, then detonated in a multi-colored cataclysm.
The Calamity's body was riddled with cracks, but it was not finished. It simply stomped the air, and a wave of vibrational energy neutralized Lloyd's assault. Before Lloyd could react, it was before him, a knee kick connecting with his face. He felt his cheekbone shatter. The monster grabbed his leg, hurled him away, and finished him with a dark energy orb that carved a new canyon into the landscape.
As the dust settled, Shiro dove from the sky, his one remaining arm cradling a sphere of molten rock. "Consume this!" he roared, shaping the lava into a giant, roaring skull of fire that swallowed the Calamity whole.
The resulting explosion was immense, but when the fire cleared, the monster stood taller, its dark aura intensifying. It was evolving, growing bigger with every attack.
"It's no use…" Shiro gasped. There was only one path left. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they burned with white light. His hair bleached to a stark white, and his body flared with power. Overdrive.
"Shiro, no!" Lloyd coughed, pushing himself up from the rubble. "It'll burn you out!"
"We have no other choice!" Shiro yelled back, his voice layered with power. He stretched out his hand, and a conduit of energy flowed from him to Lloyd, reigniting the older warrior's fading strength.
Understanding passed between them. Lloyd grabbed Shiro and, spinning with all his might, hurled him towards the Calamity like a living comet. Shiro shot forward, a spear of pure intent.
But the Calamity was ready. It adapted in the space between heartbeats, teleporting directly into Shiro's path. Its hand shot out, too fast to follow, and closed around Shiro's right arm. With a sickening tear, it ripped the limb from its socket.
Shiro's scream was a sound of pure agony. He tried to retaliate with a final fire blast, but the Calamity slammed him into the ground and pummeled him with destructive orbs, the concussive blasts throwing earth and fire high into the air.
Lloyd watched, one eye swollen shut, his battlesuit torn and drenched in blood. He saw his friend fall. He saw the hopelessness of their situation. And he found a final, grim resolve.
"It still stands after all that…" he murmured. "What a devastating calamity we created." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "If there's no option but to hold nothing back… then I might as well let my body burn away. Knowing he will pick up where I left off… I leave it in your hands, Shiro."
His aura erupted, a sky-rending vortex of red and pink energy that tore itself from his body. He fell into a low stance, focusing every last shred of his life force into a single, ultimate technique. Blood trickled from his nose. His eyes glowed with a brilliant, violent light.
"Calamity… now burn! Slice and Dice!"
He became a blur of motion, firing countless razor-sharp energy rays simultaneously. He walked calmly through his own storm of destruction as the rays assailed the Humanoid, which staggered under the onslaught, its body flaying open. Yet, even now, it adapted, its skin hardening, deflecting some of the rays away to carve fresh scars into the landscape.
'Activating Overdrive has put me on the brink,' Lloyd thought, his vision darkening at the edges. 'And this thing… it adapts faster than we can damage it. At this rate… I will obtain critical damage. If that's the case, I don't mind dying on the battlefield. I have done my part.'
His mind drifted, thoughts flowing like a final river. 'After all the battles I have faced over the years… I fought for all of them. But humanity was consumed by its own greed. We failed to see our limits. We strove for more, knowing it could all go in vain. Look… look what you have created.'
The ground began to shake violently, rocks levitating as a thick, purple smoke coalesced. The Humanoid of Calamity let out a devastating roar that shattered the air. Its body pulsed, the wounds from Lloyd's assault sealing shut in an instant. Then, with a final, contemptuous release of power, it obliterated the ground beneath it into fine dust, the intense air pressure flattening everything for miles.
---
Shiro regained consciousness to a world of pain. His missing arm was a white-hot brand of agony. He tried to push himself up, but a weak, telepathic voice echoed in his mind.
'Shiro… I don't have much left in me.' It was Hiro, their strategist, his own life fading fast from a distant location. 'This is why I wanted you and Lloyd to end this monster. I'll leave an opening. You'll have to gamble… throw everything you have into one shot. Make it quick. Both your life energies are fading. Make it count.'
"I understand," Shiro croaked, blood bubbling from his lips. He focused a weak flame onto his severed shoulder, cauterizing the wound with a sizzle that made him scream. Gritting his teeth, he stood, his body a canvas of blood and bruises, clad only in his tattered pants. He fell, then pushed himself up again, his blood dripping onto the scorched earth.
Far away, in a ruined command center, Hiro activated his own Overdrive. The mechanical components of his arm whirred and reconfigured, transforming into a massive, glowing cannon. His face was burned, his body broken. "This… is all I can do." He took aim. "Aerial Subjection!"
A beam of pure blue energy, containing the last of Hiro's will, lanced across the battlefield. It struck the Calamity with unerring accuracy, lifting it from its feet and hurling it into the side of a nearby mountain, pinning it there for a precious moment.
The scene shifted back to Shiro. He saw his chance.
"I have one last chance…" he muttered, falling into a battle stance. "If I don't make it, this is the end."
He summoned every last drop of his strength. Blood poured from his sealed wound as he speed-blitzed towards the mountain. The Calamity, struggling against Hiro's energy bindings, noticed him. Shiro pushed further, activating his Overdrive once more. His hair turned not just white, but a bloody, vibrant red—a sign he had long passed his limits.
"HYAAAAAA!" he screamed, unleashing his special technique. "COSMIC RAY!"
A pillar of absolute fire, containing the sum total of his being, erupted from his body and shot upwards, engulfing the Humanoid of Calamity. He was not alone. From the ruins below, Lloyd, with his final breath, coordinated his own fading power. "Number Six!" he commanded.
All their remaining attacks—the pink-red energy rays, the absolute flames—converged on a single point. The resulting explosion was not of sound and force, but of light and essence. It was a silent, brilliant dawn that consumed everything, leaving only a wide, circular field of burning purple dust.
---
From a hidden vantage point, two figures observed the aftermath.
"This is why they call them the strongest Elementals," one murmured, a note of clinical admiration in his voice.
"Now we can help them," the other replied, his tone cold. He willed a spear of shimmering energy into existence in his hand.
In the center of the devastation, Shiro was the only thing standing. He stumbled forward, his body running on fumes, towards the cracked and broken form of the Humanoid of Calamity. Its core, a pulsating gem of dark energy, was exposed.
"Our attempts… were not in vain," he whispered to the ghosts of his comrades. "Everyone… it finally ends here."
A spear of light materialized in the air and shot down, impaling the ground between Shiro and the core. He looked up, his vision blurry, to see the two new figures approaching.
"Answer me, damn it," Shiro demanded, though his voice was weak.
"You know it's us," the spear-wielder said. "It's you. This is not how we imagined it would end, but we're going to need that core. You guys are legends. You will survive." A cruel smile played on his lips. "But you know what they say… all legends must fade."
Shiro's mind reeled. Betrayal, at the final moment. "What will you accomplish by doing this?"
"None of your concern," the man replied smoothly. "But we'll help you choose. A painful death, or an easy one. Choose. Any final words?"
Shiro looked at the traitor, then at the core of the calamity they had sacrificed everything to stop. A profound exhaustion washed over him. There were no more fights left in him.
"I hope…" he rasped, "…you rot in hell."
The man nodded to his companion. The second figure raised his hand, and a wave of pure darkness surged forward. It was not the violent energy of the Calamity, but a cold, swallowing emptiness. It consumed the light, the heat, the very world, and finally, Shiro's consciousness.
---
Elsewhere, in a sterile, dark room that hummed with latent energy, a tall, slender figure gazed at a holographic display.The figure was impeccably dressed in a stark white suit, a stark contrast to the gloom.
He reached out a gloved hand and tapped the display, causing the image to vanish.
"Adequate," he murmured, his voice calm and devoid of triumph. "Phase One is complete."
From his other hand, he produced a single, exquisitely carved white king chess piece. He held it over the cold, hard floor, his fingers poised. With a soft, deliberate sigh, he let it go.
The chess piece tumbled through the air, end over end, before striking the ground with a sharp, final crack. It shattered into pristine, white fragments, scattering across the floor.
The camera lingered on the broken pieces for a moment before tilting up, but it revealed only the immaculate white suit and the faint, enigmatic smile on lips that were just out of frame. The figure's face remained a mystery, a ghost presiding over the ruins of the first game.
---
In an instant, everything changed.
The smell of ash and blood was gone, replaced by the scent of pine and damp earth. The roar of battle was a fading echo. Shiro's eyes fluttered open. He was lying on a simple cot. Sunlight streamed through a small window of a wooden cabin.
A gentle, unfamiliar voice spoke from nearby.
"Ohhh, you're awake."