Flash game sephiroth

Sephiroth has some of the most memorable scenes in the Final Fantasy series. Everything from the destruction of Nibelheim to his horrific final form has become iconic moments in video game history.

Sephiroth just oozes coolness, which is partly why he stands out from the rest of the jobbers that act as final bosses in the other Final Fantasy games. One of the unanswered questions regarding Final Fantasy VII is whether the final battle of the game actually happened or if it was all happening in the minds of the party. The final dungeon features battles against some incredibly weird looking creatures, which culminates in the battle against a body horror recreation of Sephiroth.

Is Safer-Sephiroth real or is just an effect of the Mako emanating from Sephiroth's corpse? He finally defeats the part of Sephiroth that has remained within Cloud's consciousness since the Nibelheim incident. This final battle is actually impossible to lose. Sephiroth's attacks can only knock Cloud down to one hit point and won't kill him. Cloud can either use Omnislash which will appear even if he hasn't learned it or kill Sephiroth with an automatic counterattack.

The true end boss of Final Fantasy VII is Safer-Sephiroth, as this last battle is only meant to prove that Sephiroth was ultimately a lot weaker, both as a person and a warrior than even he ever suspected.

The events surrounding the Nibelheim incident are unclear, which is likely an intentional decision on Square Enix's part. You are given a glimpse into the events of Sephiroth discovering the truth of his birth through Cloud's skewed and manipulated memories of the past, which even he admits doesn't totally add up. One of the ways in which the story of the Nibelheim incident changed in Last Order was in the method of Sephiroth's death.

In Last Order, Sephiroth actually kills himself by willingly leaping into the Mako reactor whilst holding the head of Jenova. This change has been criticised by fans, though it makes more sense than Cloud pole vaulting Sephiroth into the Mako while he has a sword stuck inside of him.

The Lifestream will then bring them back in a new form and the cycle continues anew. Sephiroth was able to survive his death by clinging onto his consciousness in the Lifestream. This is likely easier because of the Jenova cells within his body that make him different from other lifeforms that come from the planet. Sephiroth was able to recover his damaged body within the Northern Cave, though he was unable to move.

This is why he needs to act through the Jenova bodies, as they are the only way he can interact with the world. It turns out that Sephiroth is unable to die so long as Cloud still has memories of him. Cloud would need to die in order to prevent Sephiroth from ever returning. He created all of the characters and monsters in the game, as well as coming up with other visual and story designs.

Nomura was given a lot more creative control with Final Fantasy VII, which helped make him one of the most important people at Squaresoft. According to his concept art for the game, the Fiend boss was originally known as Sephiroth. This is one of the three members of the Warring Triad, which the player battles near the end of the game.

While both throws can lose their combo potential quickly after mid-percentages, especially with rage factoring in, back throw sends at a favorable angle while having low ending lag. This makes it notable for leading into follow-ups until high percentages, including an infamous KO confirm into back aerial, which becomes especially dangerous when he is in Winged Form.

In stark contrast to his other throws, forward throw lacks combo potential, but is nevertheless useful. Thanks to being a semi-spike , it can be used to set up an edge-guard or a tech chase, which could potentially allow him to score an early KO.

Finally, Sephiroth has a strong set of special moves. His side special , Shadow Flare , is arguably his best special move: it is unique among chargeable projectiles in that, while the initial projectile deals little damage and cause flinching, it generates larger, darkness projectiles that do not immediately attack the opponent, but instead orbit around them and deal damage by homing in.

Depending on how long it is charged, one to three projectiles can be generated by a single Shadow Flare, and up to five projectiles can be orbiting a single opponent at a time. Its range is also comparable to his sword attacks on top of having low lag all around, making it easily spammable and useful for spacing.

Sephiroth's neutral special , Flare , is a more traditional projectile that can be charged between three different projectiles of different properties: Flare is the quickest and travels slow but has the longest range; Megaflare is stronger overall and has a larger blast radius, at the cost of some range; and Gigaflare has the shortest range and the longest charge time, but has the largest blast radius and deals the most damage enough to instantly break a shield while in Winged Form and the strongest knockback, making it an effective way of pressuring at the edge for an edge-guard, or as a way to extend the damage the opponent takes as punishment from a shield break.

Sephiroth's up special , Blade Dash , is a dashing blade attack that functions differently depending on if the button was tapped or held. When tapped, Blade Dash is a single-hitting move that sweetspots edges easily.

However, when held, it instead becomes Octaslash, which travels slightly farther, has huge range and hits multiple times, dealing higher damage and knockback at the cost of sweetspotting edges.

Octaslash's large range particularly makes it a high-risk, high-reward combat option that can break the opponent's zone. Lastly, his down special , Scintilla , is unique among counterattacks in that it will always produce a hitbox regardless of whether or not any attacks were countered, while its multi-hitting nature allows it to pressure shields, and is one of the strongest counters in the game with a 1.

If his shield is heavily damaged, these traits can grant him a brief reprieve from exhausting his shield any further. Thanks to his several ranged attacks, Sephiroth can play at a long range very effectively. By using said range to his advantage, he can gradually deter an opponent an opponent from approaching, and his attacks' various range and sweetspots also mean the opponent has to take care of how they approach Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's extremely low short hop also helps him in the neutral game, as it allows him to mix up whichever attack he will use, allowing his other attacks to be kept fresh until he is in a prime position to use them. Said tools, combined with his grounded mobility, can sometimes even help him counteract opponents with good zoning games, such as Toon Link , Villager , or Simon.

Should the opponent be put on the defensive, Sephiroth's range can also allow him to gradually poke at the opponent's defense from afar until they are eventually put at a disadvantageous position from which he can easily go on the offensive to deal considerable amounts of damage, thanks to his highly damaging moves and his simple, yet effective combo game. Thanks to Shadow Flare, the opponent can also eventually be put into said disadvantage more easily at best, or simply force them to avoid the damage and thus reset the neutral game at worst.

His Winged Form helps significantly on both regards, as his increased mobility allows Sephiroth to reposition himself more easily while also increasing the damage he can deal and, unlike other fighter abilities like Limit Gauge or Rebellion Gauge , it will not disappear until Sephiroth is KO'd or has inflicted a lot of damage, which can potentially lead to him turning the tables on the opponent should they try to play around him carelessly.

However, for as many strengths as he has, Sephiroth also possesses a notable amount of weaknesses. Perhaps the most notable of them is his frailty: Sephiroth's tall frame results in him being prone to get hit by most attacks, which is further compounded by him being a fast falling lightweight.

Adding to this is Sephiroth's recovery: his polarized air physics result in him covering a mediocre distance midair, meaning that careless use of his resources can lead Sephiroth to be easily edge-guarded or gimped, in spite of both of his recovery options having their perks.

Blade Dash is his quickest recovery option, but it does not cover as much distance and does not fully protect Sephiroth other than from the front, which can leave him vulnerable to sufficiently disjointed moves. On the other hand, Octaslash offers excellent protection that can deter opponents from edge-guarding Sephiroth because of its range and power making it useful for edge-guard breaking , but has the slowest start-up, leaving Sephiroth vulnerable to being put at a worse position in the air.

Semi-spikes can also be especially deadly for Sephiroth, as his air physics do not give him too much air time.

Furthermore, Sephiroth's overall frame data is unimpressive, since his moveset possesses very few moves that start before frame Even his fastest aerial attack, neutral aerial, has mediocre start-up for an attack of its kind. Despite the Masamune having among the longest and most effective range of any weapon in Ultimate , attacks involving it are also equally sluggish in both start-up and ending lag, especially in regard to his smash attacks, up tilt, back aerial, and up aerial.

This means that opponents can easily punish Sephiroth if certain moves are spammed or used carelessly. On top of this, Sephiroth's sword moves at the base of the Masamune all deal poor damage, knockback, and pushback, meaning that if improperly spaced, Sephiroth's moves can be easily punished at close range.

Outside of neutral aerial, Sephiroth's melee-based moves also tend to have high ending lag, which results in him not having much in the way of mixing up his pressure at close range.

All of these issues result in a poor close-quarters game that, when combined with his frailty, collectively culminates in Sephiroth being vulnerable to rushdown-based pressure if the opponent is able to keep up with his defense, such as Captain Falcon or Pikachu. Another prominent issue on Sephiroth's moveset is his inconsistent KO potential.

Due to his moves' sourspots, Sephiroth must always be at a distance from the opponent in order for them to KO reliably. His differing sweetspot mechanics can also work against him, due to how varied their locations are. His stab attacks possess narrow ranges and require the opponent to be at their longest range in order to be effective, which can result in them missing. On the other hand, his slash attacks do not require perfect spacing at long range to be effective, but their sweetspots are harder to land as a result of being located between the weaker sourspots and mediumspots.

In regard to sword attacks, Octaslash should also be noted in that it only becomes consistently reliable for KOing while the Winged Form is active. Outside of his sweetspotted sword attacks, Sephiroth does not have many reliable ways to KO an opponent. Although dash attack's clean hit KOs at reasonable percentages, its slow start-up can make it easily predictable.

Flare's decent damage output is mostly counterbalanced by its middling knockback, which results in it failing to KO at reasonable percentages like Megaflare and Gigaflare. As a result, Sephiroth must be careful when it comes to being able to secure KOs in spite of his impressive damage racking potential.

Although Sephiroth's moveset remains solid overall, some of his moves are either highly risky or have notable flaws. Up tilt's incredible vertical range is counterbalanced by its extremely narrow horizontal range, even in spite its point-blank grounded hitbox, while its sourspots have minimal KO potential. Up aerial, on top of being Sephiroth's slowest aerial by a wide margin, sends at an unreliable angle for KOing due to being vulnerable to LSI , is notoriously difficult to properly sweetspot, and cannot auto-cancel other than from a double jump, making it a lackluster juggling tool if the opponent knows how to deal with it.

Down aerial, due to being a stall-then-fall, is risky to use offstage, so careful positioning must be had to edge-guard opponents with it onstage to avoid inadvertently self-destructing. As for his special moves, Flare and Megaflare's generally slow start-up and speed makes them easy to shield, absorb , or reflect.

Although Shadow Flare has low overall lag, it still must be used wisely, especially if used by a character with a reflector, as it can result in Sephiroth being struck for high damage himself and allow the opponent to capitalize on it. While Octaslash covers a great distance on its own and is risky to edge-guard, characters with counterattacks can easily use this to their advantage, which can leave Sephiroth at an even worse spot for recovering.

Finally, despite its animation suggesting otherwise, Scintilla cannot reflect projectiles whatsoever although it can stop them without effort. It also does not directly protect Sephiroth especially from behind and its damaging hitbox is treated as a projectile, making it a double-edged sword if reflected. Last but not least, Sephiroth's Winged Form suffers from its own limitations. Despite the wide array of benefits it grants, it only activates whenever Sephiroth receives damage, and is further dependent on his standing against an opponent.

Thus, the Winged Form suffers from consistency issues similarly to Aura in that Sephiroth will have to play very carefully if he is to keep his advantage, which is easier said than done due to his noticeable frailty.

Although the Winged Form's damage-based armor on Sephiroth's smash attacks can definitely help him power through incoming offense, reckless usage of his smash attacks can render him predictable. As a result, if Sephiroth is not able to capitalize on its benefits properly, it can become harder for him later on to level the playing field when he is at a stock deficit, as it forces him to contest with his moveset's flaws.

This also means that Sephiroth should actively avoid gaining the Winged Form when at a 2 stock deficit, as he will otherwise have no reliable way of turning the tide to his complete favor. In the end, Sephiroth is arguably the most unique swordfighter in Ultimate , as his playstyle is a hybrid of the glass cannon and turtle archetypes, resulting in a high learning curve. His high overall damage output, immense range, varied sweetspots and effective projectiles grant him a respectably solid ranged melee playstyle, as it can become difficult for the opponent to approach Sephiroth should he consistently make the right choices, and it is equally difficult to surmount him should he break through the opponent's zone or defense.

However, Sephiroth's inconsistent KO potential, polarized grab game, and poor close-quarters game can leave a much-to-be-desired offensive playstyle, and he is just as susceptible to pressure as much as he can dish it out himself. The benefits offered from his Winged Form can seriously help him on this regard, as it can help him greatly recover from a deficit should he be able to survive long enough, but his frailty means he also must play carefully in order to retain this advantage.

Though opinions on Sephiroth's viability have been somewhat unclear due to the COVID pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash , his competitive reception has been mostly positive, as most people claim his pros outweigh his cons, and he is commonly considered to rest on a favorable spot. Additionally, smashers such as Mew2King , Tweek , Nairo and MKLeo have shown the desire to main him, and Zackray and Rizeasu have used him at offline Japanese tournaments to great success.

His reception further improved when Ned notably placed 2nd using mostly Sephiroth at InfinityCON Tally , the first offline national in North America in over a year.

Sephiroth was slightly buffed via update Aside from this, Blade Dash 's angle was adjusted and a glitch involving Shadow Flare was fixed. Can be interrupted by attacking Sephiroth in between his telegraph and the halo being transferred to Sora, so Superglide or Sliding Dash toward him and attack, or use Strike Raid if Sora is on the ground. If interrupted, Sephiroth will perform Figa Wall. In the third phase, he will not always call out "Descend, Heartless Angel!

Warps close to Sora, then slashes seven times. Can be dodged or deflected with Guard and Counterguard , which must be activated more than once throughout the combo, or interrupted with an aerial combo if the initial hits are dodged. In the final phase, Sephiroth will warp behind Sora before slashing to evade Sora's Guard, and leap around after to prevent Counterguard from connecting. Keeping Sora's back to the edge of the arena will help prevent Sephiroth flanking him.

Warps close to Sora, knocks him into the air with a kiri-age , then slashes him four more times in the air. Can be dodged or countered, and can interrupted entirely by attacking Sephiroth as soon as he warps in. Sephiroth will generally counterattack with Aerial Cut Combo in response to finishers while in the air, or if Sora is at a distance, and will follow with Cut Combo or another Aerial Cut Combo if blocked.

Retaliating Slash is also more useful, as it can easily stun Sephiroth. Moves at high speed while tracing a semicircle with his slash. Only performed during final phase, when Sephiroth is flying instead of walking. Can be deflected with Guard or the Block Reaction Command if on the ground, or with Reflect if in the air. Flash is always the first technique Sephiroth uses in the battle, and leaves him open for Keyblade combos if deflected.

Can be deflected at Sephiroth with Guard or Reflega. In the final phase, Shadow Flare generates more orbs. Can be avoided with Quick Run by dashing away from Sephiroth, or deflected using Reflega. Let us make the future!

Can be avoided with Aerial Dodge or deflected with Reflega. Can be interrupted by attacking Sephiroth before the halo appears, or practically negated by casting Curaga just before the MP depletes, if Leaf Bracer is equipped. The MP depletion itself can also be negated by hitting Sephiroth with a spell just before the technique finishes. Sephiroth follows with either Firaga Wall if Sora is very close, or Flash if otherwise.

Sephiroth — Kingdom Hearts. Sephiroth vanishes with Jenova's head still in his grasp, apparently falling to his death. Shinra seals the records on Sephiroth, declaring him killed in action, and rebuilds Nibelheim to cover up the incident, populating it with Shinra employees paid to act as the villagers.

Sephiroth fell into the lifestream, his willpower too great to allow himself to be consumed. Over the next several years, Sephiroth traveled the lifestream, the planet's life energy, and the afterlife for its spirits that contains the summation of the cognition its inhabitant have accumulated.

Growing in power and knowledge, the fragments of his body congregate at the Northern Cave inside the North Crater , joining to recreate Sephiroth's physical form in a cocoon of mako. Sephiroth's new goal is to merge with the lifestream and seize control of it to become a god.

Though his physical body is encased in mako, Sephiroth can control Jenova's cells as an extension of his body and thus act out his plans through the remains of Jenova's body. Hojo has injected Zack, Cloud and the other survivors of Nibelheim save for Tifa who was rescued by her mentor Zangan before Shinra found her with Sephiroth's cells, turning them into Sephiroth-clones : people whose wills have been over-ridden with Sephiroth's will.

Hojo believes the Jenova cells within Sephiroth would call for a " reunion " of those who share its cells and wishes to see his theory put to the test. Approximately five years after his supposed death, in December , Sephiroth enacts his plan and puts out the call for the reunion to summon the Sephiroth-clones to the North Cave. Jenova's remains, which had been moved to the Shinra HQ in Midgar , shapeshift into Sephiroth's form and break out of containment.

Sephiroth kills President Shinra after declaring Shinra should never acquire the Cetra's fabled promised land. Cloud, seeing Sephiroth's Masamune left at President Shinra's murder site, surmises Sephiroth is alive, and sets out with Avalanche to find him and settle the score for what happened to Nibelheim. However, what Cloud doesn't know is that his drive for pursuing Sephiroth is compounded by the Jenova cells calling him toward Sephiroth to reunite with the main body as per Hojo's "Reunion Theory".

He appears some time later in the Nibelheim Shinra Manor basement, where he mentions the reunion and calls for Cloud to follow him. At the Temple of the Ancients , Sephiroth reveals the full extent of his plans—the planet relies on the lifestream to heal itself when wounded, and the North Crater, where the lifestream is abundant, is where Jenova fell two thousand years ago.

Using the Black Materia , Sephiroth plans to call the Ultimate Destructive Magic— Meteor —to injure the planet and place himself at the center of its impact zone as the lifestream emerges to heal the planet's wound. Sephiroth plans to merge with the lifestream, becoming a god. Cloud acquires the Black Materia first, but Sephiroth exerts his influence over the Jenova cells within Cloud's body and takes control of him, forcing Cloud to hand the Materia over. Aerith Gainsborough , the true last survivor of the Cetra and a member of Cloud's party, uses the White Materia to summon Holy , the only power able to counter Meteor.

During her prayer, Sephiroth or rather, Jenova transformed into his image impales her with his sword, killing her. Though Aerith had successfully called Holy, Sephiroth holds it back within the planet.

Cloud and his allies continue tracking Jenova's remains in Sephiroth's form to the North Crater. Cloud and his party kill Jenova in Sephiroth's form and reclaim the Black Materia. Cloud entrusts it to a party member for safekeeping while he and Tifa continue deeper into the crater and find themselves in an illusion of Nibelheim's destruction that Sephiroth conjured. Sephiroth wants to break Cloud by making him believe he is but a simulacrum created by Professor Hojo with false memories.

Sephiroth deceives Cloud into thinking he is a mere cluster of Jenova cells that assumed the identity of a boy named "Cloud" from Tifa's childhood. Tifa tries to tell Cloud that Sephiroth is lying but cannot deny that she never saw Cloud at Nibelheim during its destruction.

Tifa's words, along with Sephiroth's manipulations, take their toll and shatter Cloud's fragile mind. Sephiroth projects an illusion of Tifa before the party members left behind to bring the Black Materia to Cloud. Once Cloud takes back the Black Materia, he hands it over to Sephiroth's true body residing within a mako cocoon. Sephiroth summons the Meteor, which awakens the planet's defense mechanism, the Weapons. The area's walls crumble as the Weapons, colossal monsters, arise from their slumber, and Sephiroth's mako cocoon falls into the crater.

Cloud's allies flee with Rufus Shinra , the new president of the Shinra Company, on the airship Highwind. Sephiroth erects an energy barrier over the crater to keep the Weapons from detecting him. Sephiroth is mentioned frequently in Hoshi o Meguru Otome , as the deceased Aerith's spirit observes the effects Sephiroth's actions are having on the lifestream and the planet. Sephiroth begins shapeshifting his body into a form befitting a god, awaiting Meteor's arrival.

Cloud recovers upon discovering the truth about his past. In late January , Shinra fires the Mako Cannon, known as the Sister Ray , at the North Crater, piercing Sephiroth's barrier and allowing Cloud and his allies to enter the crater and reach Sephiroth. They find Sephiroth at the planet's core, blocking Holy. Cloud and his allies destroy him. However, his mind persists; pulling Cloud into a final metaphysical battle in an attempt to control him.

Cloud's mind has grown, and he defeats Sephiroth, who dissolves into the lifestream, seemingly destroyed. With Sephiroth gone, Holy is released from the planet's core.

Aerith's spirit helps the lifestream emerge and keep the Meteor at bay for the Holy to destroy it. Sephiroth is the focus of the On the Way to a Smile "Lifestream: Black" chapters where he uses the lifestream's emergence to fight Meteor to infect the planet with Geostigma , dispersing his memories among the lifestream to spread the disease. Sephiroth avoids dissolution into the lifestream by focusing on his hatred of Cloud, which allows him to maintain a core sense of being and remain separate from the other spirits.

With his peripheral memories, including those of his appearance, stripped away over time, he uses memories of how others in the lifestream see him craft his avatars and sends them to find Jenova's remains to create a new body for himself. Geostigma has spread throughout the world, afflicting many with extreme fatigue and skin sores. Sephiroth's remaining consciousness corrupts a part of the lifestream. It primarily affects children due to their weaker immune systems.

Cloud has also contracted the disease and experiences visions of Sephiroth. The now-reclusive Cloud finds himself confronted by a trio of silver-haired men who are physical manifestations of Sephiroth's will. The three, Kadaj , Loz and Yazoo , believe they are guided by their "mother" Jenova, but rather, it is Sephiroth himself who forces their actions. The three seek Jenova's cells to be reunited with her, unaware of Sephiroth's plan to resurrect himself using Jenova's last remnants.

When Kadaj absorbs Jenova's cells, Sephiroth exerts his power over Jenova to shapeshift Kadaj's body into his own visage, restoring him to life. Sephiroth faces Cloud and, disappointed his adversary was cured of Geostigma, reveals his plan to gather the souls of Geostigma's deceased victims to corrupt the lifestream and gain control over the world.

He plans to use the planet as a vessel to travel space and find a new planet to rule. Sephiroth and Cloud fight in the ruins of Midgar that was never rebuilt after being ravaged by the Meteor, with Sephiroth dominating and severely injuring Cloud by impaling him in the same manner in Nibelheim.

Cloud is reinvigorated by memories of his friends and family and destroys Sephiroth. When Cloud demands he stay in his memories, Sephiroth only replies, "I will His black wing folds around him and he fades away, leaving a weakened Kadaj to die and fade into the lifestream as Aerith's spirit calls healing rain to cure the planet of Geostigma. Chronologically, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is Sephiroth's final appearance in the Final Fantasy VII timeline , and his current status is unknown, though it is likely, given his past tenacity, that he continues to exist within the lifestream.

Although Sephiroth himself does not appear during the events of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- , he is mentioned in a flashback with the pregnant Lucrecia, who experienced a vision as to what her child would become.

The second mention is from Weiss the Immaculate when explaining he is actually Hojo possessing his body. In another flashback, when Lucrecia is trying to save Vincent Valentine , she demands that Hojo give back her baby Sephiroth.

When Cloud and Avalanche blow up Mako Reactor 1 , Cloud sees a black feather and experiences a psychic disturbance. After Cloud escapes to the streets of Midgar in the wake of the bombing, Sephiroth appears to him and warps Cloud's surroundings to resemble the burning Nibelheim.

Sephiroth taunts Cloud over the razing of Nibelheim and Sephiroth's murder of Cloud's mother. He does not deny Cloud's claims of having killed him, even calling it the crowning moment of their time together. He asks Cloud to leave Avalanche and live to fight for the planet. When Cloud attacks him, clearing the illusion, Sephiroth telepathically tells Cloud to hold on to his hatred.

When Cloud meets Aerith on the streets of Midgar, Sephiroth returns and mocks Cloud for being too weak to protect anything, even himself.

Cloud nearly kills Marco, but Tifa stops him. When Cloud later falls to the slums, Sephiroth appears in his dream and says that he is Cloud's everything, but Aerith wakes Cloud up before he can do anything.

She takes Cloud around the Sector 5 slums where they run into another Sephiroth-clone who collapses and attracts Cloud and Aerith's attention. Cloud sees the man as Sephiroth, who tells him not to fear the reunion before the clone walks away.

After the destruction of Sector 7 , Sephiroth appears to Cloud to mock him for failing again but encourages him to gain strength from the loss. However, Barret is left believing it was an intended part of the presentation. Smirking at Cloud, who struggles to walk forward, Sephiroth tells him to stop fighting and embrace him before cutting the bridge down, sending everyone plummeting down.

Sephiroth seemingly hurls President Shinra through a window leaving him hanging from the scaffolding for dear life. After Avalanche rescues and corners the President, he turns the tables by pulling a gun on them. Marco—controlled by Sephiroth—kills him and stabs Barret before transforming into Jenova Dreamweaver , a being that induces hallucinations.

After Marco is defeated, another clone appears masquerading as Sephiroth, the same one Cloud and Aerith encountered earlier in the slums. The clone carries Jenova's wrapped up body that had been released from the tank, and leaves as Avalanche backup arrives.

After Avalanche escapes from Shinra, Sephiroth approaches them on the Midgar Expressway and explains he plans to "protect" the planet and all of its creatures. When Aerith says Sephiroth is wrong, he countered by saying she is looking at him with clouded eyes and sees nothing but shadows.

As the Whispers create a massive cloud of darkness, Sephiroth cuts it with his sword to make an entrance and challenges Cloud to enter. Aerith denotes it as a doorway to breaking free of the fixed destiny that the Whispers are enforcing upon them. After Cloud and his friends defeat the Whispers, the space shifts into a surreal terrain where Sephiroth challenges Cloud and his friends.

Sephiroth persists and flies off as the Whispers attack Avalanche. He claims that the planet will become a part of it and not let himself or Cloud end. Sephiroth asks Cloud to lend his strength so together they can defy destiny, and when Cloud refuses, Sephiroth defeats him. However, he spares Cloud and leaves with a cryptic warning that he has "seven seconds before the end" as Cloud appears back outside Midgar.

With Sephiroth is still on the loose, Cloud and Avalanche embark on a journey to defeat him.