X-Blades/The Great Gates (evening)

Ayumi arrives at the gates to see that The Dark is pawing at the doors to the Peninsula Castle. She gives a sigh and asks him how many times will she have to kill him. The Dark reassures Ayumi that she is not the first "stubborn rival", as there have been many who have fought him only to serve him now. Ayumi rolls her eyes and states that it's too bad that he couldn't win a battle on his own, as she already took out his help. He retorts the same, stating that her friend was not there to help her. The Dark leaps at Ayumi and Ayumi backflips with blades drawn, avoiding his advance. When they land, they stare each other down, preparing to fight.

Go around the area and collect all the Soul Diamonds, while avoiding The Dark's darkballs. There is one behind Ayumi, five on the circular landing, one on each curved stairways, one at the foot of each of the stairwells, and on both sides of the court where The Dark is, bringing the total to twelve. Now head for the balconies. In the balcony on Ayumi's right at the start, there is a Silver Artifact piece, and on the left there is Soul Ruby. From there, drop down and look under the nearby stairwell to find a Ruby Artifact piece. It is important to collect these, as there won't be an opportunity to collect them after defeating The Dark. Now go around this floor and bust up the pots and vases for souls and head back upstairs and bust up the two cat statues.

The only way to fight The Dark One in this level is with either fire or light magic, with light being the best option. The most effective spell is Ray of Light, as it is a quicker method of attack. Hit him once and he'll activate the surrounding bowls, creating various elemental flames of fire, ice, and dark that will render him, for the most part, invisible, with the exception of a clear silhouette. Go around and use Ice Arrow on the fire flames, Fireball on the ice flames, and Ray of Light on the dark flames. This will make him visible again, so try and hit him with as many Ray of Light spells as possible. Next he will summon a group of Pangolin Warriors that he will be connected to for protection. These Pangolins can not be phased by physical attacks, so a magic attack will have to be used. Ice attacks are the best for this, so either use Ice Arrow from afar or let the Pangolins gang up and use Ice Flower, with Ice Flower being the better option.

When they are all frozen, hit The Dark with a few more Ray of Light spells. When he is hit, the Pangolins will instantly thaw and die. At this moment, The Dark might use his hurricane attack. When he is about to perform this, he will crouch down for a moment to build his rage. He will then raise up, lifting his hand to the sky, creating a powerful surrounding wind current that will push Ayumi back. If not careful, the current will push Ayumi off the cliff at the far end behind both stairwells into Daimont Lake. So try to be in position in front of a wall or a banister. Once the wind dies down, he will re-create the flames in the bowls and become invisible again to repeat the cycle. Continue this method, until The Dark is defeated.