Second Battle of the Iifa Tree The Second Battle of the Iifa Tree ( March 5 , 1800 ) occurs shortly after Terra ' s fall , when the Lindblum fleet and Alexandria n royal airship , the " Red Rose " , intercept the numerous Silver Dragons swarming out of the strange orb of light above the Iifa Tree in order to clear a path for Zidane Tribal and the party as they intend to storm Memoria on board the " Invincible " . Prelude . Shortly after Kuja uses his newly acquired Trance powers , he learns from Garland ' s spirit that his power would never matter as he would die soon anyway ; Zidane , the " Angel of Death " created after Kuja , was meant to replace him . Upon learning that his amassed power would soon go to waste , the enraged Trance Kuja destroys Terra . Zidane and his party manage to gather all the Genomes in the Terran town of Bran Bal , commandeer Kuja ' s airship , the " Invincible " , and narrowly escape back to Gaia . Unfortunately , the Gaia they return to is not the same as before Zidane and crew traveled to Terra ; The Iifa Tree had gone berserk and forced its roots to burst out of the ground on all four continents of Gaia , casting a worldwide layer of Mist , previously isolated to the Mist Continent . Mist - created monsters invade various points of the planet . More significantly , a portal to Memoria appears above the tree . Kuja intends to go through it to find the Crystal , the origin of all existence , and destroy it . His motive is that if he cannot remain immortal , no matter how much power he amasses , then neither can any other being . Realizing this imminent threat , after leaving the Genomes in the care of the Black Mages in the Black Mage Village , Zidane and crew agree to themselves , on Garnet ' s behest , not to inform anyone of this danger , as well as their intention to invade Memoria to stop Kuja . Battle . In their attempt to defeat Kuja within Memoria , the " Invincible " is attacked by swarms of Silver Dragons to prevent them from entering . One dragon is about to fire its breath at the Terran airship at point blank range , when it is suddenly obliterated . Looking behind them , Zidane and Dagger see the Lindblum fleet , under the command of Regent Cid IX , attacking the dragons . On board the flagship , the " Hilda Garde III " is the Tantalus Theater Troupe , present to cheer for Zidane . The " Invincible " flies on while Cid ' s fleet keep the Silver Dragon occupied . However , one swarm is distracted by the ruse and follows the Invincible . The swarm would have attacked had not the " Red Rose " , under General Beatrix ' s command , suddenly burst from the Mist behind the Invincible , acting as a shield with Silver Dragons smashing into it . With all the dragons dealt with , the " Invincible " is able to break through into Memoria . However , the Nova Dragon lay in waiting at the gates , and has to be felled by the party . Aftermath . Once in Memoria , Zidane and company eventually traverse the dimension , fighting through the revived Shrine Guardians , now the Four Fiends , and Deathguise , while witnessing past memories ( such as the destruction of Alexandria and Madain Sari ) and seeing Gaia ' s past and origin . Eventually , they make it into the Crystal World and engage Kuja in one last battle .