"Hikaru, Hikaru, wake up!"

What was supposed to be a peaceful night at Suria Castle was disrupted by an unexpected ruckus. Hikaru Asahi was just in the middle of a nice dream when he was suddenly woken up by someone calling his name. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw his little brother with a look of distress on his face.

A surprising scenario, given that it would usually be the other way around.

"Hyuga? Why are you up this late?" the blunette asked.

"Everyone's at the main balcony! Come quick!" Hyuga was desperately pulling at his brother's hand, wanting him to get out of bed as soon as possible.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Hikaru followed Hyuga to the main balcony. As they were running through the hallway, a group of Celestials rushed past them in the opposite direction, clad in full armour and wielding their weapons, as if heeding the call of battle. The sight of this planted a seed of worry in the Helios blader.

"Hey, what exactly happened?" Hikaru questioned Hyuga.

"You'll see when we get there." the spiky redhead simply answered.

They finally reached the balcony, where they saw Valt, Aiga, Drum and Valkyrie standing near the railing, overlooking something that was happening in front of them. The older bladers and bey spirit did not seem to notice the brothers' presence, and when they got closer to them, Hikaru knew the reason.

A giant wall of fire had surrounded the entirety of The Heart, but this fire was no ordinary one, it was blue in colour. If it weren't for the brightness it gave off, he would certainly have mistaken it for the sky. At the sight of the azure blaze, Hikaru instantly knew the only person that had such a power.

"He-Helios?" he muttered.

The others had just noticed the two brothers, with Valt immediately going towards them.

"Hikaru, you're here." the older bluenette said with a tone of relief.

"V-Valt, what's going on? What's with that firewall?" the Asahi asked in a fit of confusion.

"We're not sure ourselves, but the Celestials told us that Helios went outside the castle. According to them, the only thing he told them was to stay on guard. Next thing we knew, this fire suddenly appeared." Valkyrie said. "I'm not sure what happened, but I'm certain that he sensed something that we did not. It most certainly has something to do with devils."

"Where are the others?" he questioned as he noticed the absence of Hyperion, Achilles, Dragon, Selene, Eos and of course, Helios.

"The fire caused quite the commotion in the city, so their trying to control the situation while I am tasked with protecting all of you. As for Helios, well, we weren't able to find him anywhere when all of this occurred, so I could only assume that he's somewhere on the other side of the fire. For now, you need to stay with me until all of this is resolved."

At the moment, the bladers could only watch from the balcony above as the inhabitants of The Heart gathered in the cobblestone streets below to witness the commotion.

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"Where did that fire come from?!"

"These blue flames. Don't they belong to Prince Helios?!"

"Has His Highness finally snapped?!"

"He's going to burn us all!"

The citizens of The Heart were understandably confused and frightened by the sudden appearance of the great firewall that had stripped them of their peaceful night. They crowded near the main entrance of the city, where their beloved king, Hyperion was standing with his back turned, accompanied by some Celestials, his daughters and Achilles.

"Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this?!" an elf amongst the crowd questioned.

"Yeah, don't tell us that Prince Helios has rebelled against you!" a satyr hollered.

At this accusation against the prince, Achilles objected. "Okay, first of all, how dare you make such assumptions! Sure, His Highness has a bit of a temper, but as one of his mentors and close friends, I can assure you that he would NOT do something like that! And if you still have such an opinion, then let's settle this by the blade!" he summoned his sword, challenging the masses who thought negatively of his apprentice.

Of course, no one came forward to object to the red warrior's claims. This was the mighty Achilles after all. It was a known fact among the spirits that fighting the Myrmidon while he was in a rage-filled state would be a death wish.

"Settle down, Achilles," Hyperion interjected as he turned to face his subjects. He began to speak to them. "I am sorry to have your night be disturbed by what is happening right now. As you may have suspected, this is undoubtedly the work of my son, Helios. However, his intentions for doing this are unclear even to me. I was informed that he had told the Celestials to stay on guard. Whatever may have happened, it is for certain that his motives are for your safety."

The crowd began to chatter amongst themselves following this statement. What was the Prince trying to protect them from to the point that he needed to surround The Heart with his flames? Suddenly...

"HYPERION!" a voice yelled from above, catching the attention of everyone present. They turned to the sky to see Dragon flying down towards them before landing in front of the red-haired king.

"Did you find anything on the other sid-" the king didn't have time to finish his question as the rainbow beast hastily answered:

"IT'S HELIOS! HE'S ON THE OTHER SIDE FIGHTING A HOARD OF DEVILS!"

"WHAT?!!"

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Ashes drift off into the air as another devil was swiftly taken down before an azure glow lit up the sky once more.

The crown prince of Aether was ruthlessly battling the army of savages who were attempting to make their way into The Heart in an attempt to capture the young bladers by order of their overlord, the one they called 'mistress'. The devils charged at him bearing their claws and fangs, but no matter which direction they came from, each eventually met with either two fates, to be incinerated by his flames or to be cut down by his blade. The dark creatures were growing frustrated at the prince's perseverance, but at the same time, Helios was getting tired as he had used a lot of energy to make his attacks while also maintaining the firewall.

"Don't stop your attacks!" the army's leader commanded. "Wear him out until he has no energy left!"

The blue prince was covered in wounds and bruises delivered by the devils. His breaths were heavy and his flames nearly dimming. Despite this, he was not planning on surrendering anytime soon. Now holding his sword with both hands, he raised it and unleashed yet another blast of flames towards the devils that were flying towards him with a cry, disintegrating them to ashes. However, their numbers did not appear to dwindle. It was as if killing them only made their army grow larger.

Seeing the prince's struggle to keep the army at bay brought satisfaction to the raven-like leader.

"You're perseverance will only be your downfall, Your Highness," he taunted Helios. "If I were you, I would have surrendered right here and now."

"NEVER!" Helios shouted, his voice hoarse from letting out his battle cries. "I'll take all of you down, ALL ON MY OWN!!!"

The raven devil laughed. "All on your own? I suggest you take a good look around before you attempt such a futile move."

Helios turned to look behind him only to see that the fire he had created around The Heart was slowly but surely starting to fade away, the image of the great city becoming clearer as the flames gradually shrunk. He turned back towards the army of devils to find many more of them floating around their feathered leader.

"Don't you see, Your Highness? Even if you were to sacrifice all your energy, it will be meaningless." he mocked. "Moreover, you've separated yourself from the only thing that can give you strength in this dire moment. Now you have no one to cry for help."

That was when the prince remembered. Hikaru was still in the castle and probably did not know of his partner's current actions and intentions. If their bodies and minds were not in sync, they could not resonate with each other.

The prince began to despair, realising the weight of his actions.

"A mistake I have made...How could I be so reckless?" he said to himself. "I've failed him... I've failed everyone...'

These negative thoughts clouded his mind, causing his flames to dim. As he drowned himself in these whispers, the devils in front of him prepared to launch a barrage of magic attacks on the prince in order to take him out of the picture and invade The Heart.

"Worry not, my prince, for we will free you from these regrets forever." the raven devil extended his hand towards Helios and charged up an orb of dark energy.

"Say goodbye."

They fired their magic towards the defenceless spirit, who was now deep in his despair. His head was faced down, seemingly accepting his fate. In his mind, he was a failure - to his kingdom, to his family, to his friends and to his master. Thus, this was the most fitting way to make up for his mistakes - through death.

Helios waited for the impact to come.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

What the heck was taking it so long?

Realising that he was still conscious and alive, Helios decided to look up and see what happened to the devils that were surrounding him. That was when he saw what was preventing his end.

His father.

Fully covered in armour, Hyperion stood in front of his beloved son as he held up a glistening red and gold shield, blocking the devils' attacks, his bright blue wings extended and his hair flared up in an orange flame.

"To think that you were handling this all on your own." Helios heard him say.

The unexpected appearance of Hyperion not only shocked Helios, but the evil army as well, forcing them to stop their advances. Perhaps they knew full well that they would not fare well against the ruler of Aether himself. Some of the devils even fled from the battle at the sight of him, not wanting to face against the king, whose might and power were the accumulation of the sacred and pure knowledge passed down from his ancestors, the Noble Four.

When the barrage of magical attacks halted, Hyperion lowered his shield, allowing himself to fully see the evil army before him.

"Any attempt at disturbing the peace of this land goes against the laws implemented by The Noble Four. As their descendant, I command all of you to cease your advances at once!" he said to the devils with authority.

But of course, these creatures did not care about the laws, with the raven-like leader even scoffing at this order.

"You think you're interference will scare me?!" he arrogantly said. "In the name of the Serpent King, I will not back away from your presence!"

The leader charged towards the father and son with his claws protruded out, ready to deal some heavy blows to the two. Hyperion swiftly countered with his spear. A rigorous fight ensued between the righteous king and prince and the foul feathered beast.

Seeing that the two royals were busy fighting their commander, the rest of the devils saw this as an opportunity to invade the city. They flew towards the firewall in order to fly over it, but their attempts failed when a number of them were instantly incinerated by colourful flames. A certain winged beast was the one keeping them at bay.

"Trying to get in, huh? Think again!" the rainbow dragon boldly exclaimed as he once again unleashed a breath of iridescent fire towards the dark legion.

On the other side of the fire, the bladers were now near the firewall alongside Valkyrie, Achilles, Selene and Eos. Due to the ever weakening firewall, they were now able to see what was really happening behind the big blue blaze. Valkyrie and Achilles stayed in the city to watch over the bladers. Drum's blue highlights were visibly glowing as a sign of the resonance between him and Dragon, assisting his partner in the fight. The princess's aimed their weapons at the sky, shooting down any devils that attempted to cross the flames while Celestials who were able to fly also joined in to fend off the monsters.

"Alright, Dragon! Use everything you got! Don't let a single one of them get into the city!" the blonde boy exclaimed to his partner.

"Roger that!" Dragon replied, his claws glowing with a myriad of colours. He sent waves of energy towards the devils, destroying their bodies and further slowing their movements.

Seeing that almost his entire legion was getting absolutely crushed, the raven devil relentlessly and furiously attacked the two royals, scratching at every inch of skin that caught his eye with his claws. Hyperion and Helios blocked the assault with their shields, but the sheer ruthlessness of it caused them to be pushed back near the fire.

"He's just one devil, yet his strength is monstrous." Hyperion noted.

Helios did not say anything. In fact, he was a bit irritated. Why did his father come all the way here to protect him? This was his fight. He should be the one to finish this fiend off all on his own! He was strong. He did not need help. That was what the prince thought of anyway.

The raven devil let out a shriek as he released his feathers at the royals like bullets. Hyperion was able to protect himself with his shield but Helios was not so lucky. The feathers hit him in the side of his torso and face as well as his left shoulder, forcing him to let go of his sword and causing him to fall through the fire. With the prince weakened, the firewall completely disappeared.

"Helios!" Hyperion exclaimed as he watched his son fall to the ground. The desire to reach for him clashed with the need to keep the raven devil at bay, and with a heavy heart, the king of spirits decided to do the latter.

Meanwhile, Helios was laying on the cobblestone ground of The Heart, injured, bleeding and almost deprived of energy. He was struggling to stand up. The citizens of the city gathered around him with concern, with Valkyrie, Achilles, his sisters and the bladers immediately rushing to his side, Hikaru being the quickest amongst them.

"Helios!" the older Asahi called out as he ran up to him. "Please, get up!"

"Hi...ka...ru.." Helios muttered weakly. "I'm...sorry. I've...put...all of you...in danger..."

"Brother, don't blame yourself," Selene reassured. "None of us saw this coming."

"But...I did.."

The others looked at him with puzzled expressions.

"I sensed...that something was...coming this way....and yet...I never told any of you...I thought...I could...handle it all...by myself...but... but..."

Words cannot describe how ashamed Helios felt, to have his family and friends looking at this beaten up form of his. He was supposed to be the heir to his father, the elder brother to his sisters, the guide to his blader, and yet his selfishness to uphold these responsibilities was the very thing that endangered them.

"Helios, I'm not mad at you for not telling us," Hikaru spoke. "But I will be mad if you just give up like this. You're always encouraging me to never give up, you've always given me the motivation to keep doing my best, so why not I do the same thing for you?"

Helios' eyes widened in surprise at his blader's words. If he was in the skin of his younger, more ignorant past self, he would definitely be offended and embarrassed at the concept of a weak human lending a hand to a powerful spirit like him. But now, he felt a sense of comfort at the fact that his partner was now by his side.

Suddenly, something or someone was flown beside them. They turned to see Hyperion, who was pushed back by the raven devil. He was pushed with such force that Hyperion had to use his spear as an anchor to prevent himself from being thrown further back, leaving large cracks in the cobblestone. Above was the feathered fiend, smiling triumphantly as he hovered over the terrified crowd.

"To think that with all of your might, you still struggled against me, Your Highness." he said to Hyperion.

"I was only making sure that you lived. Besides, Tartarus cannot swallow up the dead." the king answered back.

"Heh, it will not devour me once my lord and lady conquer this kingdom once and for all!"

Hikaru and Helios looked at each other once more.

"Defeat him, Helios," Hikaru said with a smile as a bright blue aura slowly surrounded him and his partner. "Don't worry. We're in this together!". Helios was silent for a moment before smiling and nodding back to his blader. Through the resonance, his energy was momentarily revitalised and his wounds were healed, allowing him to stand up again.

Hyuga noticed the resonance between the two and decided that he wanted in as well.

"If Hikaru is in this, then I'm in this too!" the bamboo shoot exclaimed before turning to the king. "Hyperion, I've got your back!"

A bright orange and red flare formed around the king, making him realise the bond that he shared with the boy, a profound strength blossoming within him. Hyperion could not help but smile determinedly at Hyuga before turning to his son.

"Helios, let us defeat him, together as family!" he said with determination.

Helios simply nodded as he and his father positioned themselves in a battle stance, their weapons ready to strike.

The raven devil only scoffed. "Bah! I will show you the pointlessness of the pathetic Oath you and your ancestors stand by! Now hand those humans to me!!!" the devil let out a shriek as he charged towards the group bearing his talons.

At this moment, time seemed to slow down. The blades of the father and son began to glow brightly in their respective colours. The hairs of beys and bladers flared up in a majestic flame and the wings of the two sun spirits extended like the wings of an angel. As the devil drew closer to them...

"TWIN..."

In sync, father and son, brother and brother, screamed as the spirits swung their weapons in an amazing display of strength and resonance.

"STRIKE!!!"

The two royals pushed their blades forward, sending a large blast of orange and blue flames towards the raven devil. In an instant, without having the time to process his actions, the black feathered creature was enveloped in the flames, seemingly incinerated by them. When the fire subsided, the burnt body of the evil bird dropped to the ground, twitching in pain and no longer able to fight.

As the devil laid on the ground, a dark gate of sorts appeared and opened out of thin air. This was a shock to the bladers but not the spirits. Chains shot out from the gate, shackling the dark bird before dragging him into the void. The gate disappeared after that.

"Woah, what was that?!" Aiga asked out of shock.

"That was Tartarus," Hyperion answered. "It has swallowed him. He is now it's prisoner."

Unexpectedly, Helios fell backwards and collapsed on the cobblestone, which alerted his fellow spirits and the bladers, especially Hikaru.

"Helios!"

The confused screams of the crowd were the last things the prince heard before everything went black.