In fact, the two Sephiroths battling in the field had both noticed Aiden and the others' arrival, but neither of them got distracted to look at them. They only unleashed fierce sword strikes at the other version of themselves.
However, the Sephiroth of this world, after losing Whispers's assistance, was already being suppressed. Although those Whispers looked weak, the help they brought was surprisingly huge, Fate granted them abilities unimaginable to ordinary people.
Whoosh!
The other Sephiroth forced back the Sephiroth of this world with a single sword slash. Just as he was about to open his mouth to say a few mocking words, he sensed a sword aura flying toward him.
Casually slashing out a wave of sword energy, he shattered that incoming aura. Only then did the other Sephiroth look at Aiden, and the face that seemed to permanently wear a smile finally showed a hint of surprise.
"You are not a person of this world," he said slowly. "Where did Cloud go?"
"He… should be resting now." Aiden twirled his sword with a flourish and looked at him with a smiling expression, "He fulfilled his dream, became a mercenary."
"A mercenary, huh? Looks like that guy is still influencing him. Truly no progress at all." The other Sephiroth glanced at the Sephiroth of this world and shook his head slightly.
At this time, Tifa and Aerith also came down. But Tifa, like Aiden, jumped down directly from the high platform, while Aerith slowly walked down the stairs, as she was a spellcasting class, after all.
Scarlet did not come down. She still hadn't fully adapted to her powers yet. And because she had injected herself with Jenova's cells, even if they were diluted, after just one glance at Jenova's corpse, some memories instantly surfaced in her mind. So, she turned back, took out her communicator, and called for reinforcements.
Looking at the appearance of Aerith and Tifa, the Sephiroth from another world was slightly stunned, especially after seeing Tifa and Aerith naturally standing close to Aiden. He looked with amusement at the Sephiroth of this world, "Didn't expect it to be such a mess already. Have you been resisting from the beginning?"
The Sephiroth of this world said nothing. Now he was just a clone, and without Whispers's help, he could only slowly recover the stamina and energy he had consumed earlier.
Seeing that the Sephiroth of this world didn't speak, the other Sephiroth shook his head, then looked again at Aiden and the Aerith and Tifa behind him. In his sky-blue eyes, a sly smile appeared, "So that means… that guy is still all alone? Oh my, how pitiful. If he were to know the original story, he would probably go mad, wouldn't he?"
Aiden knew who this Sephiroth was referring to. Seeing the Whispers spiraling around him in a reflexive manner, he smiled, "To him, maybe this is a good thing. At least he doesn't have to make a wavering decision anymore."
"That's true. That guy never had the courage to truly face his emotions." The other Sephiroth nodded thoughtfully, then fixed his gaze on Aerith. After carefully inspecting her, he nodded again, "I see now. No wonder this world turned out like this. So, it's not just 'me' who is resisting."
Although it was just a normal glance, Aerith felt a bone-chilling cold. Because in the eyes of the Sephiroth from another world, she sensed killing intent. Thinking of her future fate, she began to grow nervous.
Aiden turned his head to glance at Aerith, reached out his empty hand to hold hers, and after squeezing her palm, said, "Don't worry. The future won't happen again."
"Mm!" Feeling the warmth from Aiden's palm, Aerith's expression eased up.
"It won't happen? That's not something you can just say with words." The other Sephiroth narrowed his eyes, long sword slanted downward. As the black single wing flapped, his body rose from the ground.
"I'll kill you, then seal 'me' into the Great Hollow, and afterward, let what was originally supposed to happen replay itself." As he spoke, the other Sephiroth suddenly slashed out over ten waves of sword aura toward Aiden.
Unlike when fighting the Sephiroth of this world, when facing the attack from the other Sephiroth, Aiden suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. The Sephiroth before him was strong. And showed no mercy at all.
"No wonder I always felt like Sephiroth was holding back before… turns out, he never really intended to kill me." This thought appeared in Aiden's mind, and then he also swung his sword, slashing out more than a dozen waves of sword aura. Beside him, Tifa also threw out burst after burst of fist wind.
At the same time, Aerith had already rapidly finished chanting a spell. A giant magic circle enveloped the entire 68th floor—Hojo's research lab.
Inside this magic circle, Aiden and Tifa felt an endless surge of power pouring into their bodies.
BOOM!
Sword aura collided with sword aura, letting out sharp, screeching booms. Before the airwaves from the impact had even dissipated, Tifa's fist had already appeared in front of the other Sephiroth.
But the Sephiroth from another world merely slashed his katana Masamune diagonally downward, then swung it upward, shattering the wind force of her punch.
"You're still far too lacking," the Sephiroth from another world said coldly.
But before he finished speaking, Aiden had already appeared before him. The hand not holding the sword raised slightly, with a destructive force gathering in his palm.
'Annihilation Palm!'
The move that had previously forced back the Sephiroth of this world in one strike.
"An ability never heard of," the Sephiroth from another world repeated what the Sephiroth of this world had once said. But feeling the destructive power in Aiden's palm, he didn't choose to directly take it on. Instead, he tapped his toe and retreated at high speed.
But Annihilation Palm came with an auto-lock feature. No matter how far the Sephiroth retreated, Aiden followed close behind, until he could no longer control the force in his palm and finally released it.
BOO.!
The long-gathered power finally exploded out. The violent force nearly destroyed everything it touched. Even the steel-covered floor was deeply pressed downward.
Before the smoke and flying debris had settled, Aiden charged in with sword raised, followed by both the Sephiroth of this world and Tifa.
Clang! Boom! Bang!
The next second, three explosive sounds rang out simultaneously. Then Tifa was sent flying out. Fortunately, Aerith arrived just in time to catch her mid-air, but the impact sent them both tumbling to the ground.
"So heavy."
Aerith, nearly winded by Tifa's weight, rubbed her chest that had been painfully squashed and muttered with a complaint.
"I'm not heavy at all!" Tifa's chest was also a bit sore. Hearing Aerith's words, she puffed up her chest, "You're just jealous."
"What would I be jealous of?" Aerith cast a deep glance at Tifa's chest, then looked away to the three entangled in battle.
To be honest, Aiden was the weakest among the three, but due to his weapon and techniques that had never appeared in this world, he put considerable pressure on the Sephiroth from the other world.
After all, he shared the same origin as the Sephiroth of this world and had Whispers's help. Over time, he was completely overpowering the Sephiroth of this world.
But even with Aiden's assistance, victory was still very difficult. What Whispers brought wasn't just nearly limitless stamina and energy, they forcibly elevated the strength of the Sephiroth from the other world.
After blocking the lightsaber and the katana with a swing, the Sephiroth from the other world suddenly shot into the sky. With a wave of his blade, a slash of sword energy split the ceiling.
"Let's change the location. It's too cramped here, we can't go all out."
The Sephiroth from another world flew through the hole in the ceiling. His voice, filled with boundless battle intent, had yet to fade.
Naturally, the Sephiroth of this world also flew up to follow. But Aiden looked helpless, he simply couldn't fly.
Watching the two Sephiroths disappear from sight, Aiden called out to Aerith and Tifa, then ran out the door to take the elevator.
Just after exiting Hojo's research lab, the three of them bumped into Scarlet, who was leading a large squad of Shinra special forces out of the elevator.
"Is it over?" Scarlet looked at the trio and asked in confusion.
"Not yet, they went up." Aiden helplessly pointed upward, "They can fly, we can't."
"Pfft!"
Seeing Aiden's exasperated expression, Scarlet suddenly laughed. She then ordered a few Shinra special forces to enter the lab, making room while also cleaning up the lab.
By the time they reached the rooftop of the Shinra building via elevator, the two Sephiroths had already resumed fighting.
Unlike the earlier fight in the cramped space, in the open rooftop area, the techniques unleashed by the two Sephiroths became increasingly ferocious, with ever-larger ranges.
Crisscrossing sword energy nearly covered the entire rooftop. Many of the buildings on the rooftop were also slashed into fragments by the sword aura. All the debris was blown downward by the storm stirred up, who knew which unlucky person might get hit below.
Aerith held three or four magic crystals in each hand, Yuffie's prized collection. As mana flowed into them, seven or eight magic circles suddenly appeared on the rooftop.
Using so much magic in one go, even as the last of the Ancients and with the planet's Lifestream to replenish her, Aerith still gasped for breath.
"It's our turn now." The magic Aerith used were all buffs. Feeling the surging energy on his body, Aiden charged in with his sword, executing a rapid chained slashing technique.
Tifa followed closely behind, the magic crystal embedded in her gloves glowing brightly, boosting her speed further.
Meanwhile, Scarlet commanded the Shinra special forces to assemble their heavy sniper rifles on the spot.
At this level of battle, they couldn't intervene, at least not yet.
"You took too long," the Sephiroth of this world was once again pushed back. Though only a clone, he still felt fatigued. As he retreated, he spoke to Aiden, who just passed by him.
"Taking an elevator takes time. Not everyone can fly like you," Aiden gave him a look, then burst forth with blinding sword light that gathered into a massive sword aimed at the other Sephiroth.
As the spinning greatsword came down, the Sephiroth from another world tried to block it. But as the giant blade neared, the ground before him began to crack inch by inch, then came a series of explosions.
BOOOM!
The rooftop, meant to park helicopters, was now shrouded in smoke and dust. Countless debris flew in all directions.
Behind the kneeling Sephiroth, a long and winding trench stretched dozens of meters.
"Cough cough…"
The other Sephiroth coughed lightly while clutching his chest, then stood up again. The Whispers beside him darted in and out of his body, healing the damage visibly fast.
"Very good. Now this is interesting." Waving away the smoke before him, he spoke with a sinister tone.
As Shinra's strongest special operative, he enjoyed challenging opponents.
Next, he twisted the sword in his hand and pointed it coldly at Aiden and the others.
"Don't disappoint me."
"Don't worry, we absolutely won't." Aiden supported Tifa with one hand and took several deep breaths. With Aerith's magic, he could barely use higher-level techniques now.
"Then let's… continue." With his injuries fully healed, the other Sephiroth raised his blade once more.
This time, his aura surged even higher, those Whispers not only repaired his body, but were still increasing his power.
Slash!
A massive sword energy wave tore through the night sky, flashing pale white and instantly illuminating the skies above Shinra HQ.
Faced with such brutal sword energy, Aiden and the others obviously couldn't take it head-on. Aiden and the Sephiroth of this world each unleashed sword energy waves, not enough to cancel the giant slash, but enough to knock it off course.
The deflected sword energy soared into the sky and exploded after flying far off. With a thunderous boom, the entire Midgar was blanketed in white light.
———
At this moment, no one in Midgar could sleep peacefully. Everyone walked out of their homes and looked up toward the top of the Shinra Building.
"Cloud, what's wrong?"
On the streets, Barret and the others, who had been resting, also noticed the sight in the sky. While still confused, Cloud suddenly clutched his head and screamed.
A demonic voice kept echoing in his mind, urging him to immediately go to the rooftop of the Shinra Building and take back everything that was his.
'Those things originally belonged to you, but were seized by an outsider. He took everything from you, your identity, your... love. Kill him, let fate return to the right path.'
The demonic voice was still echoing in Cloud's mind. Although he did his utmost to avoid it, as the voice grew louder, his gaze also grew increasingly dazed.
Finally, when his eyes were lifeless, he released the hands that were holding his head, then took the Buster Sword from his back, and like a walking corpse, ran in the direction of the Shinra Building.
Behind him, Barret and the others noticed something was wrong with him. When they tried to stop him, they were sent flying by a single backhanded sword swing from him.
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