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Chapter 150 - Chapter 150 The Heart of the Pillar

The plan was set. Tifa, her fists already glowing with a fierce energy, turned to Cloudia. 

"We'll draw their attention," 

She said, her voice a low growl. 

"We'll fight our way to those charges and keep the pressure on. You two, go!"

Cloudia didn't speak, but her posture was a silent agreement. She adjusted her grip on the massive Buster Sword, a grim determination set on her face.

Arthur gave a sharp nod. 

"Good luck," 

He said, his voice strained but firm. He turned to Aerith. 

"Ready?"

Aerith's hand was already in his, her palm warm and comforting despite the cold night air. A faint, ethereal glow surrounded her, the silent power of the Lifestream answering her call. 

"I will always be with you," 

She said, her voice soft but unwavering.

They split up. Tifa and Cloudia, a whirlwind of fists and steel, plunged back into the main battle, drawing the bulk of Shinra's forces towards them. Their shouts of defiance, the clang of metal, and the sharp reports of energy weapons filled the night.

Arthur and Aerith, meanwhile, began their treacherous climb. They weren't on the outside of the pillar, but within a network of maintenance tunnels and access shafts that snaked up its massive spine. The air inside was thick with the sterile smell of Mako and the faint, coppery scent of old blood.

"The bottleneck is up high," 

Aerith whispered, her voice echoing softly in the cramped space. 

"We need to go up at least a thousand feet."

A thousand feet. In the dark, with Shinra patrols likely crawling all over the structure. Arthur felt the cold, spectral presence of the 

Whisperers swirling around him, a buzzing static on his senses. They were getting closer, trying to bar his path, to push him back onto their "correct" timeline. He ignored them, focusing on the climb.

They used old ladders and narrow, rusted walkways, their progress slow and careful. 

Every step was a risk. A single misstep could send them plunging into the darkness below.

As they climbed, Arthur could feel the Mako energy humming around them, a powerful, unnatural current. 

It was a river of liquid spirit, flowing from the planet's core, but Shinra had caged it, controlled it, and now used it for their own corrupt purposes.

"This is where they are going to do it. Just for money," 

Aerith said, her voice filled with a quiet sadness. She reached out, her fingers lightly touching one of the giant Mako pipes. The pipe pulsed with a faint green light. 

"The Lifestream feels so trapped here."

Arthur understood. He could sense the planet's pain, its desperate cry. 

He could also sense the Whisperers' disapproval growing more intense with every step they took away from the fated path. 

He felt a sharp, cold jab in his mind, a wordless warning. He gritted his teeth and pushed through the mental assault.

Suddenly, a loud series of cracks and booms echoed from below. The entire pillar groaned and shook.

"That's Biggs and Wedge," 

Arthur said, a grim smile on his face. 

"The diversions are working."

"And that's Tifa and Cloudia," 

Aerith added, pointing to a distant explosion of sparks and a cloud of dust. 

"They're fighting hard."

They climbed higher, the air growing colder and thinner. The hum of the Mako energy became a roar. They reached a large chamber, a nexus of pipes and conduits. It was the bottleneck Aerith had sensed, a place where multiple Mako lines converged into a single, massive pipe.

"This is it," 

Aerith said, her voice firm. 

"This is where they've created the pressure point."

Just as they stepped into the chamber, a harsh, metallic voice boomed from the shadows. 

"Halt! Shinra Security!"

Two Shinra soldiers in heavy, black armor emerged, their rifles raised. These weren't the regular grunts. These were elite Mako-enhanced shock troopers. Their armor was thicker, and their eyes glowed with the same eerie green as the Mako energy around them.

Arthur shoved Aerith behind him. 

"Stay back!" 

He yelled.

The first trooper fired, a laser-like beam of green energy slicing through the air. 

Arthur dodged to the side, unleashing a powerful wave of energy that slammed into the trooper. The trooper's armor held, but he was knocked back, his rifle clattering on the metal floor.

The second trooper was faster, charging with a glowing electric baton. Arthur moved to meet him, a surge of his own power making the air shimmer. 

He parried the baton strike with a force field of pure energy, then unleashed a focused blast that sent the trooper flying backwards into a wall. The trooper slid to the ground, unconscious.

Arthur turned back to the first trooper, but he was already back on his feet. He had a gun-arm just like Barret, a smaller, more compact version. He aimed it at Arthur.

Just then, a spectral figure flickered into existence behind the trooper. It was a Whisperer, its form translucent and ghostly, but its touch was ice-cold. 

The Whisperer placed a hand on the trooper's back, and the trooper's movements became faster, sharper. 

The trooper aimed at Arthur again, but his eyes were now blank, controlled.

The Whisperers were actively intervening, trying to force the Shinra trooper to kill him. This was a direct, hostile act.

"I won't let you!" 

Aerith cried out, stepping forward. A brilliant, blinding flash of light erupted from her, a sudden pulse of pure Lifestream energy. 

The light slammed into the Whisperer, a physical blow of spirit energy. The spectral figure recoiled, its form flickering violently, and then it vanished, a soundless scream trailing behind it. 

The Shinra trooper, freed from its control, stumbled, his gun-arm dropping. He looked around in confusion, then fainted.

"You… you can hit them?" 

Arthur asked, stunned. He had only been able to push them away but not harm them directly.

Aerith was pale, her breath coming in short gasps. 

"They're not supposed to be here… they are not part of the normal flow of the Lifestream. They're corrupt… a wrongness. They want to control everything."

Arthur nodded, a new understanding settling in his mind. 

The Whisperers were not just guardians of fate; they were a parasite on the Lifestream, an infection that sought to keep things as they were, even if that meant destruction.

'So this is what Great Red and Ophis meant to forge a relationship in order to deal with them. I can do something to them by being connected to the people of this world.'

He didn't have time to think about it further. He had to stop the Shinra plan. The clock was ticking. He placed his hands on the massive Mako pipe, just where the bottleneck began. 

Aerith stood beside him, her hands glowing with her own unique power, ready to help.

"Feel the energy flow," 

Arthur instructed, his voice low and intense. 

"We need to push our energy against it, just enough to cause a backup, a momentary surge, without bursting the pipe. We need to create a shockwave."

Aerith nodded, her eyes closed in concentration. She felt for the Lifestream, for its natural flow, and then she felt for the Shinra-controlled Mako. 

She began to channel her own pure, uncorrupted Lifestream energy, a gentle but firm pressure against the artificial current.

Arthur did the same, but with his own unique Aether. His power was raw and forceful, a hammer against her scalpel. He pushed a wave of his energy into the pipe, a controlled blast designed to disrupt, not destroy.

The pipe began to hum. The sound grew louder, a deep, resonating groan that echoed through the entire pillar. The metal of the pipe began to strain, glowing with a bright, dangerous green.

"It's working!" 

Aerith said, her voice filled with a sense of wonder and terror. 

"I can feel the energy backing up! It's creating a surge!"

Just as the pressure became too great, Arthur unleashed a final, precise pulse. It was a targeted, focused shockwave of his Aether, a small explosion of pure energy designed to travel down the Mako line.

Miles away, at the base of the pillar, Tifa was fighting a gigantic Shinra war machine. Her fists, glowing with the energy of her powerful Limit Break, were a blur as she pummeled the machine's armored shell. The machine was a formidable opponent, its powerful cannons and massive arms a grave threat.

Suddenly, a powerful shockwave ripped through the ground, followed by a violent tremor. The earth shook, and the giant Mako pipes at the base of the pillar glowed a brilliant, blinding green before pulsing erratically.

The shockwave, amplified by the Mako lines, shot through the demolition charges that Tifa had been trying to disarm. The complex wiring and failsafes, designed to prevent tampering, were overwhelmed by the sudden, massive electrical surge. 

A series of pops and sizzles echoed through the air as the charges' internal components short-circuited.

Tifa, sensing the change, looked down. The timers on the charges, which had been counting down relentlessly, went dark. The threat was neutralized.

"It worked!" 

Tifa yelled, a wave of relief and pure adrenaline flooding through her. She looked up at the immense pillar, a faint smile on her face. Then she turned her attention back to the war machine. With the immediate threat gone, she could now focus on the fight.

Cloudia, fighting her own battle against a swarm of elite Shinra soldiers, also felt the tremor. 

She looked down at the charges, her eyes widening slightly as she saw the timers go dark. She felt a rare surge of hope. Arthur and Aerith had done it.

Back in the bottleneck chamber, the intense strain on Arthur and Aerith's bodies was beginning to show. Aerith was swaying on her feet, her face pale. Arthur felt a searing pain in his head, a side effect of using his power on such a massive scale.

"We did it," 

Arthur said, his voice a hoarse whisper. 

"We stopped them."

But then, the air in the chamber grew colder, the buzzing of the Whisperers a physical pressure on his ears. A blinding flash of light exploded in the center of the chamber, and a group of spectral forms, larger and more defined than the others, coalesced.

These weren't just the small, fluttering Whisperers. These were the Harbingers of Fate, the most powerful of the Whisperers. 

One took the form of a hulking, armored figure, another a lean, serpentine one, and a third a quick, agile form with a staff.

"This cannot be," 

The armored Harbinger boomed, its voice echoing with the authority of the Lifestream itself. 

"You have broken the destined path. The Sector 7 plate must fall. It is a necessary sacrifice for the Lifestream to correct itself. You have defied the will of the planet."

Arthur, still weak from his efforts, scoffed. 

"The planet isn't a heartless machine. It wouldn't ask for thousands of lives to be snuffed out. This isn't the will of the planet, it's the will of your twisted, broken 'fate'!"

The Harbingers moved forward, their forms shimmering with power. They were not just spectral projections; they were raw, concentrated Lifestream energy given form. They were the will of destiny made physical.

"You are a paradox," t

The serpent-like Harbinger hissed. 

"You do not belong here. You have no place in this world's destiny."

"Maybe not," 

Arthur shot back, pulling Aerith behind him. 

"But I have a place in this world's heart!"

He unleashed a blast of his own mana, a defiant surge of power, but the Harbingers met it head-on. The two forces collided, a shockwave of spiritual energy that tore through the chamber, making the metal groan and whine.

Aerith, seeing Arthur falter, stepped forward, her body glowing with a powerful, protective aura. 

"You are not the will of the planet," 

She said, her voice filled with a sacred fire. 

"You are its sickness. I will protect everyone!"

She began to channel her own Lifestream energy, not as a weapon, but as a shield. A powerful, radiant barrier of green energy erupted from her, pushing back against the Harbingers. The Harbingers shrieked, a soundless cry of pain, as Aerith's pure energy clashed with their corrupted form.

Suddenly, a new sound, the sound of a roaring, furious lion, echoed from the tunnels below.

"Get your filthy hands off my kids!"

Barret, having heard the explosions and the subsequent silence, had come to investigate. His gun-arm was smoking, and his face was a mask of furious determination. He took one look at the spectral Harbingers and the two exhausted kids, and without a second's hesitation, he opened fire.

His bullets, empowered by his rage, slammed into the Harbingers. They didn't do any physical damage, of course, but the raw force and sheer emotion behind the shots rattled them. 

They were not used to such defiance.

Tifa and Cloudia, having cleared their path, arrived moments later, their faces grim. They took in the scene: the exhausted Aerith and Arthur facing down the spectral Harbingers.

"What are those things?!" 

Tifa yelled, ready to fight.

"They're the Whisperers!" 

Arthur yelled back. 

"The guardians of fate! They're trying to force us back onto the old path! We have to fight them!"

Cloudia didn't hesitate. She charged forward, her Buster Sword glowing with a fierce blue energy. She swung, and the blade passed harmlessly through the armored Harbinger.

"Physical attacks won't work!" 

Arthur warned. 

"They're made of corrupted Lifestream energy! You have to hit them with pure spirit!"

Cloudia understood. She re-focused her energy, channeling a blast of pure Mako energy through her sword. She swung again, and this time, the blade connected, a shimmering clash of power against power. The Harbinger staggered, its form flickering.

Tifa, having witnessed the exchange, began to channel her own spirit into her punches. Her fists, already powerful, began to glow with a pure, white light. She punched the agile, staff-wielding Harbinger, and it recoiled, a crack appearing in its spectral form.

Barret, seeing their strategy, opened fire again, not with bullets, but with blasts of raw, furious Mako energy from his gun-arm. He focused all his rage and love for his friends and his daughter into his shots, and they tore through the Harbingers, forcing them to retreat.

The Harbingers shrieked, their forms flickering. They were not used to being defeated. They were not used to defiance. They were the will of fate, and they were supposed to be unstoppable.

"You have won a small victory," 

The armored Harbinger boomed, its voice filled with a cold promise. 

"But the planet's destiny is sealed. You cannot change what is meant to be. This is only a temporary divergence. We will be back."

With a final, furious cry, the Harbingers vanished, leaving the five heroes panting, exhausted, but alive.

The pillar was safe. Thousands of lives were safe. Midgar was safe.

"We did it," 

Aerith whispered, a small, weary smile on her face as she slumped against Arthur, completely drained.

Arthur held her, his own body shaking with exhaustion. He looked at Tifa, Barret, and Cloudia. They were all battered and bruised, but they were victorious.

"Those bastards will pay,"

 Barret growled, his voice still filled with righteous fury. 

"They will pay for even thinking about doing this."

Cloudia leaned against a pipe, her sword still humming with power. She was silent, but her eyes held a new, quiet pride. They had defied destiny itself, and they had won.

They had not just saved a city. They had changed the future. But the threat was not over. The Harbingers would be back. Shinra would not give up. But for now, they could rest, knowing that they had done the impossible. They had won a battle for the very soul of the planet.

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Craze: Tensura arc is going to end soon. I am fast as fuk bro. What should be the next floor? Hehe, and which girls!

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