Caught in the Life Flow, the two are rescued by a nearby village.
With Tina’s help, Sky regains consciousness, remembers everything, and confesses to his comrades.
Sky: I wasn’t a soldier… I shouted loudly and left the village, but I couldn’t become a soldier… Ashamed of my weakness, I created an illusion by mixing what I saw with stories I heard from Jack, my friend… I kept acting in that illusion. I’m sorry, everyone…
His friend saved him, and she had rescued him as well. It was because of them that he was here now. Why couldn’t he realize it a little sooner? That even this weakness is part of who he is… That his friends would have understood such weakness…
Sky confesses his weakness to everyone.
And this time, with his will, he makes a decision.
Sky: It’s my responsibility that the Meteor falls, and to protect this star where my friends sleep, I will fight Sephiroth.
As he watched that scene, Sora felt tears welling up. At first, Sky seemed like a new type of protagonist. Brazen, materialistic, and somewhat humane—he appeared to be just a bit different from the usual protagonists.
But Sky wasn’t that kind of being. He was weak, made mistakes, experienced nausea—an ordinary person just like herself. That’s why his determination moved Sora even more.
No matter how hard it got or how painful it was, he didn’t turn away from his mistakes, and his ordinary strength to rise again shone brighter than anything to her.
“Sniff… Yeah… That’s right, Sky… Hang in there, Sky…”
She resolved to travel with him until the very end, cheering on that version of Sky. Then, the revived Sephiroth plunged the world into disaster.
The Dark Rune activated the Meteor, and to hinder those trying to stop him, Sephiroth unleashed countless monsters and even manipulated the ‘Giant Shield’ to attack the protagonists.
While overcoming such crises and looking for a way to stop the Meteor, Sky and his party discover that the magic that can stop it, Holy, has already been activated and that Sephiroth is interfering with it—that it’s happening right where she sleeps, at the [Temple of the Ancients].
To stop the Meteor, they need to go to the [Temple of the Ancients], but since Sephiroth has turned it into a den of monsters, they devise a plan to charge in on an airship.
The night before the final battle, Sky gathers his comrades and tells them it’s time to find their reasons for fighting. Having undergone a tragic experience entangled in others’ wills, he was able to voice this, and his comrades followed to find their own reasons.
That night, Sky and Tina spend the evening together.
Sky: Um… Tina, I… have something to say, so…
Tina: Sky… expressing thoughts isn’t just about words.
Sky: Tina…
“Oh my… Oh my! Aah! How!”
While it was just a silhouette of Sky and Tina kissing, Sora received a cultural shock of a different kind seeing their newfound love.
This was a part where Yuren intentionally expressed it differently from the original. In the original, it left people guessing merely through dialogue, but Yuren did a better job with an expression that eliminated all doubt.
Since there were no ratings on the Other World, this was possible, and thanks to Yuren, countless young gamers received sex education through this game.
Sky: So… shall we go?
Tina: Yes…
They held hands and boarded the airship together. Other comrades joined one by one, and thus they headed to the Temple of the Ancients where Sephiroth was.
Breaking through immense monsters, Sky finally faced Sephiroth and began the final battle.
『 Daan↑ Dan↓ Daan↑ Dan↓ Daan↑ Dan↓ Da! Da! Da! Da! Estuans interius vehementi Sephiruth! 』
The rough, tension-creating orchestral music heard during the Eternal Fantasy unveiling played, and Sephiroth, as the final boss, exuded overwhelming presence as the battle began.
After transforming three times, Sephiroth cornered the protagonist. Sora mobilized not just Sky and Tina but all their comrades to fight Sephiroth, and finally succeeded in defeating him with Sky’s ultimate move, 『Dragon Extreme Martial God Devastating Slice』.
Tina: We won! Sky!!
Sky: No… Not yet… I can feel him…
Just as they were about to celebrate their final victory, Sky felt Sephiroth within himself, leading to a true final battle within.
Sky: Let’s end this, Sephiroth.
Sephiroth: Hehe, it’s up to you.
The legendary hero Sephiroth, but the power of Sky, who found his true self, was enough to transcend Sephiroth, ultimately shattering him to green dust as he vanished.
And…
Sky: A hand?
As he grasped the hand appearing through the green light, Sky returned to reality.
Somewhere, the Temple of the Ancients was collapsing, and Sky barely took Tina’s hand to escape with his comrades onto the airship.
The Meteor, beginning its descent toward Midgar, started to destroy the star little by little.
Just when everyone was plunged into despair…
Barat: Is that… Holy?
The enormous white energy flowing from the Temple of the Ancients began to illuminate the Meteor, halting its fall. Yet, was it too late? The Meteor began to push Holy away, step by step.
Vincenzo: At this rate… the Meteor will collide with Midgar.
Red: What should we do?
In that moment when an overwhelming and dire future dominated everyone’s thoughts, Sky heard a voice.
Sky: Aerith?
The moment he thought he heard her voice, the Life Flow began to surge from the ground. Slowly and gradually, the Life Flow, like an ocean, blanketed the sky, starting to envelop the Meteor and steadily push it away.
With an extraordinary light, the world turned white.
“What’s happening? Is everyone safe?”
As the screen faded to white and after a moment…
A lush forest appeared on the screen.
“Wow… Beautiful.”
It seemed like it was the first time he had seen such a lush forest while playing Eternal Fantasy. Due to the light of the Magic Furnace, nature had been shown destroyed; it felt like he always observed a gloomy and dark or artificially illuminated world.
That such a world has changed must surely be due to the protagonist.
At that moment, a pack of red wolves appeared on screen. Among them, a wolf standing out in front was clearly one of the comrades—Red.
Red… He was alive, Sora thought, focusing on the screen joyfully.
But there were still so many questions. Were Sky and Tina safe? What happened to the world?
As numerous curiosities swirled in her mind, when the red wolves arrived at a location, Sora couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Is that… could it be…”
Where Red arrived was a dilapidated Midgar, rusted and old. Above that Midgar, a giant 『World Tree』 was growing.
And below that World Tree, familiar figures appeared. People dressed like her, alongside elves, dwarves, dark elves, humans, and beastmen living vibrantly.
Yes, they saved the star.
And the life they saved was us.
The world of Eternal Fantasy, which had once seemed a distant future, was actually our long-forgotten past.
With that scene teeming with life, Eternal Fantasy met its conclusion.
『 – THE END – 』
…………………
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…………
……
Even after the game ended, Sora remained unable to move from her seat for a while.
Emotions of touch, sadness, anger, joy, and happiness swirled in turmoil, rendering her incapable of expressing them properly.
And the final emotion she felt was… simply gratitude for everything.
To the fate that introduced her to this game…
And she felt anger.
Anger at herself, stuck in this room doing nothing…
Sky was weak and hopeless but ultimately rose to save the star, the world, and us.
Even if it were just a story within a game, it was reality for her who traveled alongside him.
But what about her now?
She was shouting and thinking about giving up because her beloved games were broken.
Sora realized why she behaved like that.
She was compromising with the illusion of herself who succeeded in the Magus Society someday.
Just like the ‘Sky’ in the game.
She should have resisted when the games were broken.
If she couldn’t change it through action, she should have created a game herself, even if alone.
But she didn’t.
She was weak, just like Sky.
“No, it’s okay. I… can still do this.”
Sora stood up and opened the window for the first time in a long while.
The cool breeze and clear sunlight felt better than ever.
Under this sky, surely Yuren was somewhere out there.
Sora spoke to him, though she couldn’t hear him, grateful for the second chance he had given her.
“Please watch over me, Yuren. I… will do my best.”
Thus, Sora and countless gamers began to overcome their weaknesses and walked out from their dark rooms.
It was the moment when the seed of Eternal Fantasy began to spread into the world.
