The Great Will Shall Finally Descend

RIIIIIP—BANG!

"Is it in here?" Following the mask's aura, Leiva tore through the iron gate and descended the staircase into the basement.

The brightly lit basement was spotless, with sleek gray metal walls. Walking down the long corridor, Leiva's eyes finally fell upon a circular vault door, roughly three meters in diameter.

"I've found it..."

Excitement coursed through him as he raised his hand, the crystalline gem at his collar glowing with an eerie light.

CRACKLE—

Behind Leiva, the space tore open, creating several black rifts in the air.

SWOOSH!

High-pressure water blades shot out from the rifts, slicing clean through the vault door.

With a grinding sound, the door collapsed.

Leiva stepped into the vault and set his eyes on the three masks resting in their slots. His lips curled into a smile. "Come out!"

At his command, four Ninja wARRIORS, each holding a ghostly mask, emerged from the shadows of the vault's corners.

"With these two and the others I've gathered, they're finally all here," Leiva said, taking out the Mini Warriors' mask he'd seized from Paco and adding it to his own Ninja Warriors' Mask. Now, the nine masks were complete!

BZZZZZZ!

As soon as the nine masks came together, a mystical energy was unleashed. Each mask, including the one on Leiva's face, began to emit a bluish glow, vibrating with a strange hum.

Suddenly, with a series of sharp cracks, the masks shattered into pieces. At the same moment, the Ninja Warriors under Leiva's command vanished as well.

"You know what happens when all nine masks are brought together. Why would you still do it?" A familiar voice interrupted. Tarakudo's orange head emerged from the shadows, slithering through a crack in the wall. The dark magic Uncle had used to keep Tarakudo at bay had weakened, allowing him to get closer.

(Originally, Tarakudo had been weakened by onions, but Uncle's spell could no longer hold him after the masks were gathered.)

Leiva ignored Tarakudo's question, his face flushed with excitement as he spread his arms wide. "The Great Will shall descend!"

"The Great Will? Is that your 'General'? Let him come out!" Tarakudo sneered, but his confidence faltered as the remains of the nine masks began to stir. Slowly, the bodies of the nine Ghostly Generals began to regenerate from the fragments.

"My master." The nine Ghostly Generals bowed to Tarakudo in unison.

With his powers restored and his elite soldiers at his side, Tarakudo's confidence surged. "This is your last chance—either submit to me or die!"

But things didn't go as Tarakudo expected.

The purple-red crystalline gem at Leiva's collar flared with brilliant light, and in an instant, the Ghostly Generals' eyes glazed over, their minds completely taken over.

Even Tarakudo, with all his newfound strength, could only resist for a moment before falling into unconsciousness.

As he faded into darkness, the last thing Tarakudo heard was a cold, arrogant female voice in his ear, more powerful and chilling than any he had ever faced.

"Well done, Leiva. The ultimate darkness will now be under your control... The time for the Honkai arrive has come. Set the coordinates and prepare to welcome the Honkai Army."

"Yes, my lady!" Leiva responded without hesitation.

The voice chuckled as Tarakudo's vision dimmed. "Still trying to resist, Tarakudo? You dreamed of ruling the Ghostly Army, but now... fall into eternal oblivion with your pitiful ambitions."

Meanwhile, after a brief delay, Jackie, Uncle, and the others rushed toward Section 13, their arms laden with magical tools. Along the way, they encountered several terrified and bloodied Section 13 agents, fleeing like madmen.

"Where's Captain Black?" Jackie stopped one of the agents, intending to ask for information.

But the terrified man shoved him aside, screaming incoherently as he ran. "They're all dead! Dead! Everyone's dead!"

A dark cloud of dread settled over the group.

When they finally reached Section 13's interior and witnessed the gruesome scene before them—bodies strewn everywhere, blood painting the walls—they couldn't hold it in any longer. One by one, they collapsed to the ground, vomiting violently.

Then, amidst the chaos, a familiar voice rang out: "Get away from me, you monsters!"

"Captain Black!" Jackie, ignoring his nausea, dashed toward the sound.

"Captain Black!" Rounding the corner, Jackie saw the familiar figure of Captain Black—his bald head, his maroon turtleneck.

But just as Jackie was about to reach him, a sudden purple-red beam of light shot out.

Jackie could only watch in horror as the beam struck Black, crackling like electricity as it enveloped his entire body.

"Black!" Jackie screamed, but it was too late. In an instant, Black's entire being, along with his clothes and weapon, disintegrated into a pile of ash-like dust.

"Leiva!" Jackie's voice was filled with rage as he yelled out the name of his friend's killer.

But before Jackie could act, his eyes widened in confusion as a strange, massive insectoid creature appeared—a being he had never seen before.

"What... what is that?" Jackie stammered. He had studied many creatures, but this pale-purple, halo-crowned, winged being was unlike anything on Earth.

"This is not a creature from this world," Uncle said, stepping forward with a dried pufferfish in hand. He recognized the monstrous being for what it truly was: a Honkai Beast.

"ROOOAAAR!"

The Collapse Beast let out a guttural roar, its body glowing with a dangerous purple-red energy. In the blink of an eye, it lunged forward.

"Watch out!" Uncle tackled Jackie out of the way, and the beast crashed through the thick alloy walls with terrifying ease.

"Jackie, now's not the time for grief!" Uncle said as he jumped up, aiming his pufferfish at the beast. A flash of green light shot from the magical item, but it barely singed the creature.

"These aren't magical constructs like the Ghostly Army. These are living creatures!" Uncle realized. "Jackie, quickly! Put on the Armor of the Gods! The world's disaster is here!!"

As Uncle and Tohru helped Jackie equip the enchanted armor, Uncle began reciting spells from his magic book.

Suddenly, Leiva's cold voice echoed through the chamber, "You people again? Persistent pests. But it's too late! The Great Will has descended!"

Before they could react, a blinding purple-red light flooded the central hall of Section 13.

Then came the explosion.

BOOOOOOM!