Chapter 856 - 855: Entering the Battleground of Destiny."

Approaching the checkpoint at the exit from Midgar, Alex was still deeply reflecting on what Sephira was actually planning and why she was literally taking them all by the hand and inviting them into a trap that the Whispers had prepared in advance.

It was not at all difficult for him to guess exactly what goal the Guardians of the Canon were striving toward by creating this isolated mirror dimension. And the reason for their radical act lay on the surface: that grandiose trick Alex had pulled for the whole of Midgar had become the very last drop in the Whispers' cup of patience.

For his intervention had directly affected the neighboring timeline as well, where the course of the predestined fate had likewise radically changed. And now the Whispers intended to erase at the root all those who so stubbornly continued to deviate from the written script.

That was precisely why, in order to eliminate the arisen interferences forever, the Guardians of the Canon were going to awaken the Harbinger so as to completely destroy the changes that had occurred and forcibly restore the original canon.

Thinking about this, Alex only nodded understandingly, continuing to walk step by step together with the others along the dark trail of black feathers that Sephira had left for them. Passing through the checkpoint together with the group, Alex felt how Aerith's palm squeezed his hand noticeably tighter, fully betraying her growing nervousness.

Tightly squeezing Alex's palm, Aerith felt strong anxiety for several reasons at once. One of them was the constant fear for her loyal friends who right now once again had to desperately fight for their new, unwritten fate.

And the second reason for her agitation was that she had no idea what exactly awaited them further—there, beyond the line, when they would finally break the predestined doom and create for themselves an entirely new path.

Noticing this tense gaze of Aerith directed into the unknown, Alex smiled slightly and carefully tickled her palm with his fingers, gently drawing her attention to himself and carefully distracting her from gloomy thoughts.

"There's no need to be so nervous. We've simply approached yet another obstacle on our path," Alex whispered with a barely perceptible warm smile, leaning slightly toward Aerith's very ear.

"What makes you think I'm nervous at all, mister? I'm completely fine," Aerith whispered back with a light, grateful smile, turning her head and looking Alex straight in the eyes.

"Well, it's incredibly pleasant to hear that. We'll definitely cope with absolutely any problem—exactly the same way we've done it up until now. And right after that the boundless expanses of all of Gaia will await us," Alex said in the most cheerful and encouraging tone possible, smoothly switching all of Aerith's attention to the grandiose adventure that would await them ahead.

Looking into Alex's eyes, Aerith saw in them that same unshakable confidence which without extra words said that they would definitely cope with absolutely any problem capable of standing in their path.

Seeing this warm, protective gaze, Aerith smiled softly and nodded gratefully, trusting him unconditionally—exactly the same way she had done at their very first meeting exactly a week ago, when she had first found him lying in the old church of Sector 5, right in the middle of the flowerbed of her favorite flowers.

She had not for a single second forgotten that bright promise Alex had given her the evening before, planting a new flower among her yellow lilies—promising to protect her hope until the very victorious end.

While Alex and Aerith were silently exchanging these understanding glances, no one in the team noticed it—for the gazes of absolutely all the friends were fixed on the very end of the road where the dark trail of black feathers finally broke off. Even Tifa, walking closest to them, was experiencing at that moment only growing anxiety from the complete unknown of what exactly awaited them ahead.

At last the entire group approached the very edge of the trail of black feathers. And in the very next instant a piercing whistle of air being sliced rang out from the haze-covered sky, followed by a heavy, resonant sound resembling the clap of gigantic wings.

Hearing this noise, everyone simultaneously raised their gazes to the sky, where the first pearlescent signs of the approaching dawn were already appearing. And high enough above their heads the majestic silhouette of Sephira manifested in the air.

She was descending slowly and gracefully, confidently holding her long Masamune katana in her hand, while behind her back a single coal-black wing was unfolding. Slightly narrowing his eyes, Alex immediately noticed the strangeness: this single wing of Sephira looked as if every one of its feathers and curves had been completely created from clumps of swarming Black Whispers.

For a brief moment Alex's eyes flared with a deep violet light, and he finally became convinced that he had not been mistaken in his guesses. The wing was indeed woven from the matter of the Guardians of the Canon, and this discovery aroused considerable professional interest in him.

"And this is already becoming truly a little interesting… I admit, I didn't even expect such a move from them," Alex mentally said in a thoughtful, deep tone, not taking his intent gaze from Sephira, who was smoothly descending onto the roadway.

"Yeah, me neither, in principle. She looks pretty damn impressive, of course, but from the first glance it's clear that this woman is one complete bitch. She can literally be put on the same level as Abaddon," Dean mentally answered with light, snide sarcasm in the shared mental channel, slightly squinting at the descending figure.

"I wasn't talking about that at all right now," Alex responded in a dry and cold tone, mentally restraining the desire to give Dean a tangible kick for his habit of looking at fundamental things with too simple, ordinary eyes.

"Then what the hell are you whispering about in your brains? Are you seriously intending to hit on her?! Don't you already have more than enough crazy women in your everyday life?" Dean needled with even greater sarcasm, casting an absolutely empty, imperturbable sideways glance at Alex.

"Just drop it already… And stop broadcasting in my head at such a responsible moment," Alex finished the mental argument in a lazy, detached tone, lighting a thin cigar and slightly running the pad of his finger along his chin.

No matter how long Alex looked at Sephira, it continued to seem to him that there was something deeply unnatural and strange in her. And the matter was not at all that her real, physical body at that very moment was resting in the distant Northern Crater on the Northern Continent—there where the remains of Jenova had once been excavated.

And still less was it that she was projecting her consciousness and appearance through physical clones that Hojo had so stubbornly tried to recreate. Her entire essence seemed alien to Alex, and the very first thought that clearly formed in his head directly indicated that this was partially connected with the distorting influence of Jenova, who was the avatar of Nyan-Nyan.

And while Alex was examining the floating Sephira with research interest, each of those present reacted in their own way to her appearance—but absolutely everyone met her with deep wariness and apprehension, seeing before them a deadly enemy.

Red instantly let out a low, vibrating growling sound, and the thick fur on his back stood on end from the animal danger emanating from Sephira. Claudia and Tifa gloomily took a step forward, not taking their heavy gazes from the one who had once fed their hometown with fire and fed their lives with pain.

Yuffie was already about to swing and throw her gigantic shuriken while the opponent was still in the air, but Aerith stopped her in time. In Aerith's eyes a completely new, atypical for her emotion appeared—deep disgust at the very existence of Sephira, which seemed to her one grandiose mistake for this world.

And only Dean, imperturbably observing this pompous descent from the heavens, could not hold back and mentally asked Alex whether he should right now throw a heavy stone at her in order to knock this proud bird down on the takeoff. Almost snorting with laughter, Alex turned his head and looked at Dean with a gaze that literally screamed: "Did you just seriously propose that?!"

Seeing once again before himself the one who not so long ago had almost sent him to the other world by piercing him through, Barrett snorted irritably. His cyber-arm transformed with a screech into a machine gun ready for battle, and he resolutely stepped forward when Sephira softly landed on the roadway of the expressway some dozens of meters from their group.

"That's it, you bitch, you made your last mistake by deciding to crawl out of your stinking hole! Now those floating bastards aren't next to you to cover your skinny ass!" Barrett barked with boiling anger, sincerely wanting to return the debt for the fact that he had almost been killed.

"Those whose vision is clouded by blind emotions and who are incapable of discerning anything except phantom shadows dare not even stammer about the mistakes of others," Sephira pronounced in a haughty and unhurried tone, casting an arrogant glance over the entire group as if she saw each of them through and through.

"It's not we who are mistaken… It's you! You are the main mistake here. Absolutely everything in you is one continuous mistake," Aerith spoke with unconcealed coldness in her voice, resolutely taking a step forward toward Sephira.

"Everything living is closely connected with her… If her last child dies, will the Planet come to its final end?" Sephira spoke in a detached tone, smoothly shifting her icy gaze straight onto Aerith.

"How about you quickly cool your temper before my hand accidentally slips and I tear your head off right on the spot," Alex spoke, taking a step forward and dangerously narrowing his eyes, snapping a thin cigar in half with his fingers and carelessly tossing the butt aside.

"Today this world will not fall! But you… You will definitely fall today!" Claudia pronounced in a resolute tone, standing shoulder to shoulder next to Alex and raising the heavy Buster Sword with its tip pointed straight at Sephira.

"Well then… Show me exactly how you intend to do that. And now… Hear this rolling sound of the inevitable approaching fate—the death of all living things that you will never be able to change!" Sephira spoke, raising her gaze to the still darkening pre-dawn sky, theatrically spreading her arms to the sides and clearly enjoying what was supposed to happen in the next second.

The moment Sephira's last words rang out, everything around fell silent for a short, ringing moment—as if some unseen hand had simultaneously switched off absolutely all surrounding sounds. And in that same second, like a powerful and unstoppable stream of foaming geyser, a colossal swarm of Black Whispers soared upward.

The dark entities rushed high into the heavens, forming an enormous rotating black whirlpool right above the frozen Midgar. But no one even had time to raise their gaze to the sky when a deafening, paralyzing screech rang out across the entire surroundings, resembling a wild mixture of the screams of millions of people who were howling in horror from despair and pain before the approaching fatal end.

From this ultrasonic cry absolutely everyone in the squad convulsively covered their ears with their hands, experiencing a colossal, splitting headache—as if these tormenting howls were ringing not outside but right inside their own brains.

Covering one ear with his hand, Alex continued to intently look at Sephira, not taking his attentive and cold gaze from her. Meeting her gaze, Sephira slowly moved her lips, articulating words whose meaning was completely hidden behind the mad screech emitted by the Black Whisperers.

Slightly narrowing his eyes, Alex thoughtfully raised an eyebrow and was already slowly raising his hand, intending to destroy all the surrounding Black Whispers with a simple snap of his fingers and remove this unbearable noise. But before he managed to dispel the acoustic attack, Sephira slowly shifted her icy gaze somewhere far to the side—beyond the very limits of Midgar's outer wall.

Following her gaze through the veil of dimensions, Alex only quietly and understandingly smiled, realizing that she was right now looking at Zack, who at that very moment was stubbornly carrying the comatose Cloud on his shoulders in the direction of Midgar.

Trying not to pay attention to the wild noise in his ears, Dean noticed these strange "staring contests" in time and shifted his gaze in the same direction—and his sclera immediately changed, instantly blackening from the activated special vision.

Seeing Zack and Cloud slowly approaching the outskirts of the city in another reality, Dean for a moment sincerely became lost from what he saw, completely failing to understand what the hell was going on here and what all of this could even mean. Aerith, despite the dense screech in her ears, also made out this astral silhouette and in shock raised her gaze to Sephira.

Instantly deciphering exactly what this dangerous woman had planned and how she intended to use the rupture of the timelines, Alex sharply stretched his hand forward, intending to intercept the space by force and not allow her to carry out what she had conceived. But Sephira only softly smiled and carelessly turned away, making it clear with her entire demeanor that developing events this way would be even far more interesting.

Casting a final teasing glance over her shoulder at Alex, Sephira swung her long katana with all her might right through a clump of Black Whispers. And in that same instant the wild screech emitted by these creatures cut off just as suddenly as it had begun, and right in front of her an unstable black portal cracked open, from whose maw purple lightning discharges and powerful gusts of icy wind were bursting in all directions.

"Well then… Let's change the place of our game, Opponent of Fate… I will patiently wait for you on the other side," Sephira said with a light, enigmatic smile, casting a final glance over her shoulder at Alex before unhurriedly stepping into the gaping portal.

In response to these rather loud and pompous words of Sephira, Alex unhurriedly lit a thin cigar, demonstratively pretending that he was fully playing along with her in this undertaking. For he was still damnably interested in exactly what hidden goals Sephira was craving to use the Whispering Harbinger for and what she was ultimately striving toward by staging such a large-scale and theatrical performance.

Slightly narrowing her eyes, Sephira for the last time cast a glance over Alex and stepped into the gaping portal. She perfectly realized that exactly this person was the most dangerous opponent on the path to her final goal, but at the same time this circumstance only more strongly kindled in her the excitement to continue this captivating game together with him.

The moment Sephira's silhouette began to disappear into the unstable funnel, Claudia sharply came to herself, shaking her head in order to drive away the strange, imposed images that had just flashed through her consciousness. Seeing how the enemy was disappearing on the other side, Claudia instinctively squeezed the hilt of the Buster Sword and was already about to tear off from the spot, rushing after her in order to cut off her escape.

But she did not manage to take even a step when she unexpectedly felt how someone's brazen hand tangibly pinched her on the buttock. Claudia's eyes instantly flared with rage, and she sharply turned around, fixing Alex with an annihilating gaze, to which he responded with an extremely imperturbable and expressive facial expression.

While Alex and Claudia were silently exchanging eloquent glances, Dean thoughtfully scratched his cheek, perfectly understanding that on the other side of this horrible portal a truly colossal pile of shit awaited them that would now have to be cleaned up by joint efforts.

Aerith meanwhile froze with a detached expression, intently looking at the funnel, and slowly stepped forward, stretching her palm in the direction of the anomaly. By this moment Tifa, Yuffie, Barrett, and Red had already completely recovered after the deafening screech from which each of them still had an unpleasant ringing in their ears, and silently stared at the suddenly appeared passage.

"And what the hell did you stop me for just now?" Claudia hissed through her teeth, casting an extremely irritated incinerating gaze at Alex for that forbidden liberty.

"Because what we've approached is the most genuine point of no return," Aerith answered with a quiet, barely perceptible sadness in her voice, stopping five steps from the pulsing portal and turning her head toward the remaining members of the group.

"Wait… And what is that even supposed to mean for all of us?" Tifa inquired in the most careful and anxious tone possible, shifting her lost gaze from the shimmering rupture to Aerith's face.

"This is the most genuine crossroads of fate…" Aerith whispered barely audibly, and her right palm suddenly flared brightly with a soft, pure white light, streams of which rushed toward the raging portal, instantly calming and stabilizing its chaotic energy.

"And what the hell awaits us on that other side of yours?" Barrett asked loudly, frowning and distrustfully examining the suspicious anomaly.

"Absolute freedom from the predestined fate awaits us… Only for the right to possess it we will all have to fight properly. And whether you are ready to go for that depends exclusively on each of you," Alex pronounced in a calm tone, walking with a lazy step in the direction of the portal.

"What is supposed to happen… Tell me, is all of this because of her? Because of Sephira?" Claudia asked with a frowning gaze, uninterruptedly looking at the back of the departing Alex.

"She constantly tells everyone around that she is merely sincerely caring for the Planet. Assures that she is ready to make any sacrifices and do everything in her power to protect it… But all of this is dirty lies. She doesn't want to save this world at all. She wants to completely destroy it. For our Planet there is no greater and more terrible threat than she herself. Sephira must be stopped at any cost. And that is precisely why… I… No, all of us personally ask for your help. I know for certain that together we will be equal to it. But if we take this step right now…" Aerith began speaking with a heavy sigh, surveying all those present with a gloomy and resolute gaze.

"You will have to enter into an open clash with Fate itself in order to try to prevent the approaching end of the world. And keep in mind—there will already be no way back after this. This bus goes strictly in one direction. So each of you had better think carefully whether you are ready at all to buy a ticket for such an insane adventure," Dean completed the thought with philosophical calm, unhurriedly continuing to walk after Alex right toward the ominous passage.

At these words absolutely everyone for a moment completely fell silent, deeply contemplating everything they had had to hear up to this very moment. Their heavy gazes smoothly slid after the unhurriedly walking Alex and Dean toward the portal. Each of them perfectly understood the true meaning of all the spoken phrases and exactly what consequences their next step could lead to.

They were about not simply to try to change the predestined Fate but, as Dean had expressed with extreme precision, to board an express without stops toward the salvation of this entire world. Aerith with a calm, bright gaze silently observed her friends, making it clear with her entire demeanor that she sincerely believed and waited for them to agree to enter this battle against Fate together, but would in no case condemn anyone if someone decided to refuse and remain behind.

While the others were making, perhaps, the heaviest and most fateful decision in their lives, Alex unhurriedly approached the pulsing anomaly and stopped literally a few steps from the passage. Thoughtfully looking at the still unstable portal, Alex slightly tilted his head to the side, carefully scanning everything that was on the other side of the impenetrable white fog.

Standing shoulder to shoulder next to Alex, Dean simply could not hold back from his habitual needling about the fact that on the other side an epic boss fight was guaranteed to await them. Quietly laughing at this remark, Alex cast a cheerful glance at Dean and briefly snapped his fingers, finally stabilizing the spatial rupture and extinguishing its chaotic flashes.

"Well, what are you smiling about? Just say that I'm wrong!" Dean said with a cheerful grin, slightly nudging Alex with his elbow in the side.

"Hey, man… Don't spoil this solemn moment. For you and me this challenge is simply another light stroll, but for the others it's the most genuine, harsh struggle with the predestined Fate. For the two of us, by the way, it's far from the first time we've been yanking the balls of this very Fate," Alex spoke, barely hiding a smirk, sending the extinguished butt of his thin cigar with a flick straight into the whitish fog of the portal.

"Well-l-l… In that regard you're damn right, of course. Although me and Sammy, damn it, in our time no one even asked whether we wanted to save our damned world. They simply silently handed us a huge plaque with the words: 'We'll clean up absolutely any shit, so you can safely throw it right at us!'" Dean spoke with exaggerated sarcasm, casting an absolutely empty and ironic glance at the pulsing portal in front of them.

Patting Dean on the shoulder, Alex only in a calm tone reminded him that in the current situation it was far simpler for them to fight the predestined events—they just needed to take the main blow on themselves, allowing everyone else to earn a sufficient number of team points.

Hearing once again from Alex the familiar expression about "team points," Dean exaggeratedly and comically rolled his eyes but did not argue with his comrade's words. For he himself perfectly understood that it was extremely important for the other guys to personally fight for their new Fate, while the two of them only remained to offer a shoulder and timely remove the largest and most dangerous obstacles from the road.

Patting Alex on the shoulder in response, Dean with an expressive gesture made it clear that he would strictly adhere to their original plan—calmly haul the entire squad like a real locomotive toward the salvation of the world, shouldering everything most difficult in this insane adventure.

Smiling slightly, Alex heard behind his back the clear sound of approaching steps, and together with Dean they synchronously turned back. At the head of the entire group walked Aerith—with an incredibly serious and composed facial expression, being one hundred percent ready to forever rewrite everything that had been predestined for her from the very birth.

Right behind her walked Claudia, who for a brief moment met Alex's intent gaze, showing with her entire demeanor that she would in no case retreat before danger at such a responsible moment. Following them Tifa approached the portal, on whose face an entire gamut of complex emotions could be read, but the most distinct and strongest among them was the ardent desire to prevent the approaching global catastrophe.

Yuffie, despite her usually hyperactive and flighty character, was now completely focused and only barely audibly whispered to herself under her breath that she would not allow herself to become the only coward in the squad when absolutely everyone around was ready to fight to the death for their future.

And closing this rank was Barrett; he simultaneously continued to think that this entire undertaking with the portal was a lousy and damnably dangerous adventure, but stubbornly convinced himself that he was going for this risk exclusively for the sake of the safe future of his little Marlene.

Red firmly decided that that horrible flash of the future which Aerith had previously shown him needed to be broken at any cost, and he was ready to do everything depending on him in order to help his new friends.

"So… It turns out that if we pass through this strange crap right now, then we won't return back for a long damn time?" Barrett asked in a thoughtful and heavy tone, habitually folding his massive arms on his chest and examining the whitish fog of the portal with a complex gaze.

"Not in the nearest future. But in the end we will still definitely return back," Alex answered with a small, confident smile, lighting a thin cigar again.

"I suppose our true Fate from now on is to challenge Fate itself… A rather deep and interesting question that we still have yet to properly ponder," Red thoughtfully pronounced, raising a wise gaze to Alex.

"I've never, I admit, tried to challenge Fate in my entire life…" Tifa said quietly and thoughtfully, with a nervous motion adjusting her combat leather gloves.

"Ohhh, come on! The very first time it's always terribly unpleasant, but afterward you even start getting real pleasure from the process!" Dean blurted out, cheerfully raising his eyebrows and spreading into a snide grin, remaining true to himself even in such a gloomy situation.

"Damn… Just shut up already, and let's finally go kick the ass of this damned Fate!" Alex spoke in an irritated but smiling tone, with a laugh tangibly pushing Dean in the back right in the direction of the pulsing portal.

"Right! Let's go and kick its ass!" Aerith picked up with a bright smile, without hesitation following Alex and Dean into the white veil.

"Hey-hey-hey, wait for me! I also want to kick Fate's ass with all my soul!" Yuffie shouted enthusiastically, running at full speed after the departing Alex, Dean, and Aerith.

Not ceasing to shout enthusiastically, Yuffie with a running start jumped into the portal after Alex, Aerith, and Dean, who were the first to disappear on the other side of the dense white fog. Unhurriedly shifting his gaze to Claudia, Tifa, and Barrett who were still standing in front of the passage, Red slowly nodded his head and headed into the portal next.

Tifa and Claudia for a second exchanged glances between themselves and synchronously ran into the whitish veil, not even thinking of retreating at the very last moment. Remaining in complete solitude on the empty roadway in front of the open portal, Barrett slowly raised his massive hands and looked at them.

He once again reminded himself that absolutely everything he had done up to this very moment had been exclusively for the protection of those whom he sincerely considered his true family, and the most precious treasure in his life—little Marlene.

Turning back toward the city remaining behind him, Barrett first wanted to shout several farewell words and give a loud promise that he would definitely return soon. But the moment he opened his mouth, he immediately silently closed it, realizing in time: he did not need to give empty promises at all—he simply needed to return alive and unharmed to his little angel.

Placing his palm on his heart, Barrett carefully pulled a small photograph of Marlene from the breast pocket of his armored vest. Looking for the last time at the bright smile of his daughter, he once again firmly reminded himself for whose sake all of this was even being undertaken. Carefully putting the photograph of Marlene back, Barrett resolutely turned to the shimmering passage and with a powerful running start jumped into it with a loud cry that shook the air.

Jumping out from the opposite side of the portal, Barrett with a crash tumbled onto the roadway and almost landed right on Red, who happened to be exactly in his path. And at that very same instant, the moment Barrett crossed the boundary, the spatial portal behind his back collapsed and completely disappeared.

"Damn… Sorry, Red! And where the hell have we ended up, damn it?! As for me—it's still the same damned Midgar," Barrett spoke, stepping over the jumped-aside Red, wildly looking around in all directions and trying to make out the surroundings.

"Are you really so sure of that, Barrett? Maybe you'll finally take off your dark glasses and look around better?" Alex said with a light sigh, casting a short glance over his shoulder at the heavyweight.

"Yeah, it seems like it really is the same Midgar… But it seems to me that here absolutely everything is somehow not right… As if…" Tifa began speaking with a light doubt in her voice, vainly trying to pick precise words for that strange picture that opened before her eyes.

"Everything around seems mirrored… And absolutely empty. Completely empty," Claudia finished the thought in an even tone, examining the distorted, mirrored inscription on the massive gates of the checkpoint.

"So this place can with full right be called a mirror dimension," Red spoke, nodding understandingly, taking several steps forward and sensitively sniffing the unfamiliar surrounding smells.

"Yes and no. This place is only an incredibly thin boundary between two worlds that right now have practically touched each other," Alex answered in a thoughtful tone, raising two index fingers in front of himself and bringing their pads almost close together, leaving a very small gap between them.

Hearing Alex's clear explanation, everyone only silently nodded their heads, sincerely not wanting right now to delve into the remaining most complex details connected with the two worlds that had practically touched each other.

Continuing to tensely look around in all directions in search of at least some landmark, Yuffie was already about to climb closer to the roof of the checkpoint in order to better examine the surrounding area. But the moment she took a couple of steps, Aerith sharply and anxiously pointed her hand at the sky, urging absolutely everyone to immediately look upward.

Raising their heads to the gloomy heavens, everyone quickly noticed how right above the frozen Midgar something began rapidly forming from an endless swarm of Whispers. The dark entities flocked from all directions of the world, twisting into one colossal raging vortex.

Observing this mad picture, Alex only slightly smirked, for he perfectly understood: right now the inevitable process of awakening the Whispering Harbinger was beginning, and this was guaranteed to be followed by large-scale catastrophic changes for this entire mirror dimension.

With every moment more and more Black Whispers were merging into a single dense vortex, and from the torn clouds branched purple lightning began striking the ground with a deafening crack, causing colossal destructions of the mirrored Midgar.

One of such lightnings with a deafening crash struck exactly into the same expressway on which Alex and the others were standing. And following this most powerful strike, a fierce hurricane instantly formed right on the surface, which began moving at hurricane speed exactly toward their group.

Seeing the approaching tornado inside which purple electric discharges continuously flashed, Alex shouted at the top of his lungs, urging everyone to immediately run and not juggle with fate while they had not been sucked inside this meat grinder.

The moment this warning cry of Alex rang out, absolutely everyone tore off from their places and ran at the limit of their abilities in the opposite direction. But they had not managed to run even a couple of dozen meters when right in their path another purple hurricane arose from nowhere, approaching at exactly the same frantic speed.

Both tornadoes continued to rapidly move toward each other, instantly sucking in everything in succession and tearing out with flesh huge chunks of the concrete road and surrounding structures.

Already a moment later the entire group was knocked off their feet and picked up by a furious air stream—and they were all literally scattered in different directions across the raging sky. Only at the very last moment, instantly reacting to the danger, Alex managed to seize Aerith's hand in a death grip a fraction of a second before she would have been finally carried away by the ascending stream, and pulled her to himself by force.

"Hold on to me tighter! We're about to get really shaken!" Alex shouted at the top of his lungs, completely covering Aerith with his body while they were being spun with a whistle in the very center of the enraged hurricane.

"I'm holding on! I'm holding on with all my strength!" Aerith cried piercingly in response, digging into Alex in a death grip so that the raging wind would in no way manage to separate them.

"Then group up and get ready! There's about to be a hard collision!" Alex managed to warn, seeing with his own eyes how they were being carried by the air at monstrous speed straight toward a gigantic piece of concrete overpass flying nearby.

To be continued...

(I suppose I could have reached the battle against that massive, pompous "Fate" character within this chapter. But it would have felt way too forced—just a sudden, "Hey, let's go fight Destiny!" kind of thing. You need some conversation and reflection before taking a step like that. Besides, it gives me time to plan the fight itself—figure out what's going to happen and how it'll all play out. It'll also help refresh my memory. All I really recall is that the guy is huge and conjures up these bizarre mini-versions of himself, each wielding different weapons—or something like that. Oh, and he also does some crazy stuff, wrecking everything in the vicinity. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'll figure it out as I go. For now, it's time to make some food and get some rest. Peace, love, and go fight for your own destiny—with your own two hands.)

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