The four returned to Altea…to find it DESTROYED. They traveled further to Phin, and discovered that the Emperor had called forth a huge Whirlwind, and had destroyed Palm and Poft, as well as Altea. Hilda and Georgia informed them that the Emperor was inside the Whirlwind, and that they must somehow find a way of flying into the whirlwind to face him. The four wandered around the castle, trying to figure out a way to fly into the whirlwind, when they found Layla lying on a bed. She had made it out of Leviatan, but she still lay unconscious when they saw her. Their hearts lightened by this, and Raine remembered the dragon egg that they had put into the Spring of Life. As they stepped outside Phin Castle, the Dragon flew right towards them.

“Well, hello little buddy. Think you can fly into the whirlwind?” asked Richard. The dragon roared an affirmative, and the four hopped on and flew into the whirlwind.

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After Richard flew the dragon into the Whirlwind with Beck, Maria and Raine they quickly found their way to the Emperor. It turned out that a man that controlled so much, the wielder of so much power was really a coward. When they challenged him, he used all of his guards to try and stop them, and by the time the warriors had reached the Emperor, they were infuriated. With one forceful swipe of his sword, Beck had killed the Emperor. As the Emperor’s body disintegrated they flew outside of the now stopping whirlwind, as a voice echoed,
“I am…immortal…”

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Back in Phin, the four told Hilda and Georgia what happened to the Emperor, and they threw a big celebration. Layla was there, and she was talking with Maria, Raine and Beck.

“I’m so proud of you guys,” Layla said.
“I wish you could travel with us…” said Raine
“Yeah, but I’ll probably die if I do, I’m still too weak. Besides, you guys seem to have a good companion there,” she replied, indicating Richard.
“He’s okay…” said Beck.
“He’s really cute with his helmet off! I mean…I didn’t say that…no…nothing about Richard, especially not without his helmet…” blurted out Maria. The others laughed when suddenly a fatally wounded soldier ran up to the celebration.
“Milords and ladys! Not all of our troubles are over. The Dark Knight has taken over control of the empire for the emperor, and is rapidly rebuilding the empire! He is currently in Paramekian Castle! ” said this messenger.
“What is this dark Knight’s name?” asked Beck as the four stepped up.
“His name is Linus, milord.” With that, the soldier fell down dead. Maria, Raine and Beck looked at each other horrified. Hilda cleared her throat and told the three that they must go kill this Dark Knight, despite it being Maria’s brother and their friend. The three sadly took Cid’s airship, and with Richard went to Paramekian Castle.

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The four descended on Paramekian Castle, which was surrounded by mountains, with Cid’s ship. They found themselves in the Throne of Linus. They heard a sound of metal clicking, and they found themselves locked in cuffs around their wrists and ankles. They couldn’t move. There was dark laughter, and they looked up and saw the Dark Knight, Linus.
“You fools thought you could stop me? I am the new Emperor, and I will carry on where he left off. I will take control of this world, and all will live under me, the Great Linus.” He laughed some more. Maria tried to go towards him, but the chains held her back.

“Linus! You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re a good person, one of us, not a Dark Knight!” she screamed at him. He slowly, calmly walked towards her.

“You think you know something? Being good accomplishes nothing; only through acts of malice and evil can one accomplish something! You’re a mistake, and you know it…” he said coldly and slapped her hard, and she fell to the ground. Beck and Raine tried to go to her, but again were restrained. Suddenly, the room was filled with evil laughter, but it was not coming from the Dark Knight. He turned around, and saw emerging from the throne the Emperor!

“Linus, you are a fool…while you worthwhile for a moment in time, your welcome has run out.” He said as the intangible figure started to materialize. Linus ran towards the throne and grabbed the Dark Sword from the throne just as the Emperor came into full being. He smacked Linus hard, and he fell on a button that unlocked the four warriors.  The emperor took up the Dark Sword.

“I will now kill you, pathetic Dark Knight Linus…” he said, and raised the sword above Linus’ head.
“FOR THE DRAGOONS, I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN! ESCAPE!” yelled Richard as he charged the Emperor. The dragon suddenly appeared outside the window, and Maria, Raine and Beck realized what he meant by escape. Raine ran forth and grabbed Linus as Beck smashed a window, and as he grabbed Maria, him and Raine jumped onto the dragon. The Emperor and his Dark Sword shortly struck down Richard.

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The four returned to Phin, where they told Hilda and Georgia what had happened. They were sorry to hear of Richard’s death. Linus informed them that the Emperor had turned Paramekian Castle into Pandemonium Castle, which had its ties to Hell. And, to get into Pandemonium Castle they had to go through the Jade Portal, which was just east of Mysidia. Linus also wanted to join the three, because he had seen past his own ways, almost like a spell was lifted, and wanted to destroy the empire once and for all, much like the other three warriors. They traveled to the Jade Portal, where Linus easily struck down the demon that was guarding it. With lighten hearts from the return of their old friend, the four stepped through the portal.

“So, you have come back to fight me again, and rather quickly. You are fools to do so. I will strike you all down!” said the Emperor as he raised the Dark Sword Again. Beck ran forward and clashed swords with him a couple times, disarming him.

“FLARE!” yelled Linus, and extremely devasting fire erupted from his fingertips.
“HOLY!” yelled Maria, as white blinding light covered the entire room, but concentrated on the Emperor. His dark body slowly disintegrated, but there was still a dark shadow underneath that held power.

“You cannot defeat me so easily! You’re holy powers are nothing for the powers of Hell!” he replied to their attacks. Beck stabbed him, but his sword just went through the evil spirit.

“This is for Minyu…ULTIMA!!!” yelled Raine, using the ultimate spell. The Emperor’s eyes went wide as he slowly, painfully, was completely and utterly destroyed, immortal or not. Just before he was gone, he said these final words.

“Darkness and Evil Powers will always exist …foul demons of Light…”