Fire Cross

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Fire Cross is Seifer's Limit Break skill set in Final Fantasy VIII. Whereas the player can only use one skill when Seifer is playable as a guest, No Mercy, Seifer uses his other skills in the boss battles against him. Uniquely, Seifer is the only playable character who can execute his Limit Break below 84% of his max HP, whereas the others need to be in HP Critical health.
Seifer begins his Limit Break by casting a fire spell (single/multiple enemies, depending on the skill) and then attacking the stunned foe with a sword technique. This reflects the game's opening movie where Seifer casts a fire spell against Squall before delivering the scarring slice. The fire spell is only an animation and is not actually an elemental attack, nor does it expend any spells from Seifer's magic stock while he is a controllable character.
==List of Fire Cross abilities==
===No Mercy===
No Mercy is the skill the player can use. Seifer casts a fire spell onto all enemies, spins his gunblade around and starts focusing energy into it. In an upward slash-motion, he launches circular blades of energy at his foe. The blasts fly through the enemies and continue towards the sky, dealing exploding damage on the foes.
His Limit Break's strength is unaffected by the Crisis Level and is treated like a regular physical attack with the attack power of 80.
===Demon Slice===
Demon Slice is used during the boss battle against the lone Seifer in Galbadia Garden during the Battle of the Gardens. When at low HP, Seifer casts a fire spell on one enemy (most notably Squall), takes on a stance and starts spinning, forming a whirlwind around himself.
His gunblade works like a circular saw's blade as he twirls. He approaches the enemy as a tempest, slicing the target multiple times, lifting his enemy up in the air and delivering a blow that sends the foe head-first to the ground.
===Bloodfest===
Seifer uses Bloodfest in the last battle against him in the Lunatic Pandora. He will use it when at low HP. He attacks his enemies with fire spells, jumps high in the air and swings his gunblade twice, vertically and horizontally, forming a fiery cross on the ground beneath his adversaries' feet. The cross explodes, a hole opens up in the ground and the enemies fall into it. They plummet through an underworld-like space before falling back to the ground, heavily damaged.
===Zantetsuken Reverse===
Zantetsuken Reverse is not an official Limit Break from Seifer's Fire Cross skill. The same battle in which Seifer uses Bloodfest features Seifer slicing Odin in half.
If the player party has acquired Odin before triggering the final Lunatic Pandora event, he will confront Seifer. Odin unleashes Zantetsuken, but Seifer reverses the blow by pointing his gunblade at the approaching Odin, who is cut in half. If this happens, Gilgamesh will soon appear to dispatch Seifer and replace Odin as a randomly appearing summon for the player.
==Other appearances==
Seifer uses his Fire Cross skills in his spin-off appearances in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade (as Ability and Legend Cards), Final Fantasy Record Keeper, and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. In Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, one of Seifer's cards uses No Mercy. For a cost of three Thunder CP, Dulling Seifer and discarding another Seifer card, No Mercy Breaks all Forwards with a cost of 2 or less.
In Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, while three of Seifer's Fire Cross skills become standalone abilities (Demon Slice, No Mercy, and Bloodfest; the latter two being for his playable version and the very former being only exclusive to his boss version), his initial Fire Cross blast is renamed Flashfire as a standalone boss-only move from Chapters 3-to-8 as a standalone Bravery Damage attack. Just like its original use in the Final Fantasy VIII opening, it blinds the target hit for one turn. This time, it also counts as a ranged-magic attack. However, Seifer's playable version eventually uses the Fire Cross animation for part of his EX ability.
In Final Fantasy XIV, the Gunbreaker job is heavily themed after Squall and Seifer, and uses the names of three Fire Cross skills. No Mercy is retained as a self-buff that increases damage dealt by 20%; Bloodfest is an ability that draws 2 cartridges from an enemy, and later 3 at higher levels; and Demon Slice is used in a similar fashion to the original as a radial attack for large groups. Demon Slice also has a new follow-up attack called Demon Slaughter, a faster spin that moves in the opposite direction. The class's capstone skill in Endwalker, Double Down, is inspired by Bloodfest, as depicted in Final Fantasy VIII.
Demon Slice Brigade.png|Demon Slice (Summon) in Airborne Brigade.
FFRK Bloodfest SB.png|Bloodfest (Soul Break version) in Record Keeper.
FFBE No Mercy LB 2.png|No Mercy (6★) in Brave Exvius.
==Etymology==
Category:Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VIII