Chapter 818 - 818: Bring Me My Sword! Book Zack Another Ticket to Nebula Games!

As the game's story progressed, some issues were resolved for many players, but more problems followed.

The Zack mentioned by Aerith, and Cloud's mental state were also very abnormal.

Even earlier, in the ruins of the Ancient Civilization's temple, Cloud was controlled by Sephiroth and willingly handed over the Black Materia, which contained the Meteor magic capable of destroying the world.

Watching Cloud thrash in pain, completely unaware of what was happening, players felt the difference clearly.

It wasn't so sudden; there had been countless hints since the beginning in Midgar.

Cloud's mental state seemed to be problematic, and Sephiroth was using this to control him.

After Sephiroth left, Cloud fell into a mental breakdown and fainted. In his dream, Aerith told him she was the only one who could stop him and that for this, she had to go to the City of the Forgotten.

So when Cloud woke up, he led Avalanche to the City of the Ancients.

But everything that happened next made all the players temporarily put aside their confusion and focus on one thought: Where's my sword? Bring me my sword! And book Zack a flight to Nebula Games headquarters!

Ben cleared the small monsters along the way and finally reached the bottom of the City of the Ancients. Following the crystal-like stairs, he could already see Aerith kneeling there, praying and preparing to cast White Magic.

Cloud in the game also slowly approached Aerith, but the next moment, he slowly raised his greatsword. Fortunately, at the last second, Tifa's voice called out to Cloud, bringing him back to his senses.

However, before Ben, who was watching this, could breathe a sigh of relief, accompanied by intensely religious background music, a beam of light shone directly on Aerith.

The next second, a figure in a black cloak with white hair, holding a long sword with both hands, pierced through Aerith's chest.

A white magic stone rolled out from Aerith's body and eventually sank into the pool of water below the temple.

Aerith, who had just opened her eyes and seen Cloud, didn't even get to say a word.

Blood flowed from the wound, and with the blood flowed the power of life. As the blade was withdrawn from Aerith's body, she fell heavily to the ground.

'This isn't real…' Cloud stared blankly at the lifeless Aerith before him.

The BGM for Sephiroth's appearance in 'Advent Children' suddenly started playing.

Before Ben could react, he saw Sephiroth descend from the sky amidst a white light.

Aerith's chest was pierced by a katana.

A white magic stone rolled out from Aerith's body and eventually sank into the pool of water below the temple.

'Aerith! This isn't real…' Cloud looked grief-stricken at Aerith, who had lost her life.

'There's nothing to be sad about. Soon, this girl will become a part of the planet's energy.'

Ben didn't pay attention to the subsequent conversation between Sephiroth and Cloud.

His eyes wide open, looking at Aerith, whose eyes would never open again, Ben was stunned.

She was dead!?

Dead like Jessie?

Killed by Sephiroth!?

Not just Ben, but all other players who had reached this point were shocked.

Although from 'Advent Children', Aerith only appeared in Cloud's memories, allowing some speculation, many still held onto hope.

But now, to be directly killed with one stab through the chest, who could handle this!

Thinking back to the journey from Midgar to Nibelheim and other places, Aerith, like Tifa, had left a deep impression on players.

And unlike Tifa's somewhat reserved personality.

Her active, bold, lively, cheerful, optimistic, humorous, slightly mischievous, playful, and energetic personality, as well as her delicate and gentle emotions, had left an extremely profound impression on players.

Just before, many players were still discussing who would be the true heroine between Aerith and Tifa.

But now, there was no need to choose.

Sephiroth, descending from the sky, had made the choice for the players.

Although, for most players, this was a choice they didn't want.

After a long silence, watching the scene of a sad Cloud sinking Aerith's body into the lake, Ben quietly turned off the game.

In that moment, he had an urge to grab a sword and go to Nebula Games headquarters.

In fact, Ben wasn't the only one with this thought.

Especially seeing Cloud looking so sad, even a bit numb.

Sinking Aerith's body into the lake was incredibly impactful!

Before this, players had many questions.

For example, why could Sephiroth influence Cloud's mind to a certain extent?

And why did Cloud seem to have a period of missing memories? What were those memories?

Who was Zack?

These were all things that had confused players in the game before.

But with Aerith's death, all their attention was completely diverted.

Clearly, these questions didn't have as much impact as Aerith's death, which had exploded among the player community!

'Damn it, I'm shattered, Aerith is already gone? Isn't she the heroine?'

'First Jessie, then Aerith, all female characters are gone? Is Tifa next?'

'What are you thinking? Tifa definitely won't be. Tifa is alive and well in Advent Children. But why is my Aerith dead!'

'This is too much! In the past, important characters died at the end, but now they die in the middle of the game!?'

'Don't get excited, don't get excited. Maybe she's just dead for now? It's not impossible for her to be revived later. After all, in the world of Final Fantasy, people return to the planet after death. Plus, Aerith is an Ancient. Is it possible she'll be revived later?'

'Heh, you probably don't believe that yourself, right? If she were revived, why wouldn't Aerith appear in Advent Children?'

With the plot of Aerith's death, countless players were discussing on the official Weibo and game forums.

At the same time, the comment section of Lucas's official Weibo was, as expected, bombarded by countless players.

Players who liked Aerith vented their anger in the comment section of Lucas's official Weibo.

Of course, many players were still pushing forward with the main story, holding onto a sliver of hope for the boss, Lucas, that maybe he would revive Aerith in the end.

However, for these players, as the story progressed, it brought them even deeper despair.

......

Ben, uncharacteristically, took a day off from playing Final Fantasy and forcibly suppressed the urge to go confront the boss.

After all, that would be illegal, and he might end up in jail.

Moreover, thinking about it, it wasn't the first time the boss had inflicted pain in the game.

Even if the pain came in the middle this time, if he looked at it from another perspective, the final outcome would likely not be too bad, especially since in the CG movie Advent Children, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red XIII, and Vincent were all still alive.

What more pain could be inflicted later?

So, after adjusting his mindset, Ben felt more relaxed and continued to experience the game.

He had to admit that apart from the heartbreaking plot, the game's presentation was outstanding. Compared to the more anime-like Xenoblade Chronicles,

Final Fantasy's art style was more realistic, and the visual effects were cooler.

To avenge Aerith, Cloud and his companions continued their adventure.

They retrieved the Black Materia needed to summon Meteor and chased Sephiroth to the Northern Crater. It was here that Sephiroth revealed Cloud's true past.

That is, five years ago in Nibelheim, the Shinra soldiers Sephiroth brought were not Cloud, but another 1st Class SOLDIER named Zack.

As for Cloud, in Sephiroth's words, he was just a failure, a clone created by Professor Hojo.

When Cloud fell into a mental breakdown, Shinra pursuers and Hojo also arrived. All of this was Hojo's plan.

The goal was to reunite Jenova. Moreover, the one who killed Aerith was not Sephiroth's true body, but a clone manipulated by Sephiroth.

With Jenova reunited, a storm of Lifestream erupted in the Northern Crater. Cloud, controlled by Jenova cells, handed the Black Materia to Sephiroth.

The Northern Crater began to collapse under the dual impact of powerful black magic and the Lifestream.

The giant meteor approached the planet in the sky. Shinra even captured Tifa and Barret. Fortunately, Cait Sith, who initially infiltrated Cloud's team as a spy but later became a counter-spy due to their ideals, and Cid appeared and rescued Tifa and the others.

After successfully escaping Shinra, Tifa and her group began searching for the missing Cloud. When they finally found him, he was in a state of madness due to his mental state.

Just as Tifa and the others were at a loss, an earthquake occurred, and the surging Lifestream engulfed Cloud and Tifa.

Inside, Tifa entered Cloud's mind and began searching for his true memories with him.

From these memories, Cloud and Tifa finally discovered that Sephiroth's previous words were meant to mislead Cloud.

Cloud was indeed not a 1st Class SOLDIER, but he was not a clone.

And Cloud was indeed present during the Nibelheim village incident five years ago. However, he was just an ordinary Shinra soldier accompanying the squad. Due to his inferiority complex and his belief that he hadn't become a true SOLDIER, Cloud always wore his helmet and didn't acknowledge Tifa.

But after Sephiroth went berserk at the end, Cloud did save Tifa.

Of course, Lucas had redesigned the presentation here.

The original content was too ridiculous. He stabbed Sephiroth in the kidney with a knife, and in extreme anger, the Shinra grunt Cloud threw the great hero Sephiroth into the Mako energy stream. It was absurd.

So here, Lucas also provided players with a believable reason: Sephiroth had just fought with 1st Class SOLDIER Zack and was not at his peak. Furthermore, he was too excited by seeing Jenova and was successfully ambushed by Cloud.

Additionally, although Cloud was just a grunt, he already possessed SOLDIER-level strength at the time. However, due to his overly weak personality and mindset, he couldn't get certified. Shinra SOLDIERs required not only strength but also matching willpower and mental fortitude.

With Tifa's help, Cloud's past memories returned to his mind.

He remembered everything: the actions of the self-proclaimed 1st Class SOLDIER appearing from the train platform, his habit of saying 'rewards are important' – he had deliberately imitated his best friend, perhaps even his mentor, Zack, during his mental confusion caused by Mako and Jenova.

"Huh? DLC content? The story of Sephiroth and Zack?"

Seeing an unlock prompt, Ben felt a bit surprised.

The Final Fantasy he purchased was the deluxe edition, which included the Season Pass with extra content.

But he didn't expect it to be available directly, and even recommended to explore the DLC character's story in the middle of the main plot!

Although a bit unexpected, Ben wasn't too surprised, as Xenoblade Chronicles was similar.

The DLC story, Golden Country Ira, although released later, was recommended by the developers to be played after Chapter 8 for narrative continuity.

For Final Fantasy, Nebula Games had clearly prepared this content in advance but perhaps made it a DLC due to its richness.

However, fearing that players might choose to play the DLC first and spoil the main game, they placed it in the middle for unlocking.

After thinking about it, Ben decided to play it.

Even without playing it, he could still continue the main story.

But from the introduction, it seemed to explain why Cloud became this way.

Ben himself was also a bit curious about what Cloud had gone through.

And who was Zack, Aerith's first love?

(End of this chapter)