Volume 31 - The Conclusion to Darkstar

## Chapter 361 - Gearing Up

"It's finally time..." Andromeda remarks. "...it's finally time to take the fight to them...to end them."

"Yep, and all it took was locating the last base." Falqo replies. "Total rookie, that soldier was."

"At last...this is gonna be over." Jack remarks. "This'll be the end of Darkstar, for real this time."

"They're finally going to pay for all that they've done." Kasper says.

"Yeah, we're gonna avenge everyone they tortured and killed and terrorized!" Candice shouts, Shunsuke nodding in agreement, as they all walk to the hangar, ready to pick out exactly what weapons they wanted to bring with them to the fight.

Jack holstered his Glock, as well as a flamethrower, a sniper rifle, three grenades, two Rugers, a laser pistol, three throwing knives, and one utility knife.

Andromeda sheathed her sword, holstered a Jericho, and sighed, closing her eyes, thinking of what true peace would finally feel like.

Kasper typed a few things into screenpads on his forearms, as Candice strapped a first-aid kid to her belt.

Shunsuke put his Winchester on his back, and brass knuckles with blades and spikes on them on his fists, as Falqo sheathed his machete, and the six then walked over to Falqo's jet, said jet opening up before them.

Falqo and Jack sat in the front, Andromeda and Shunsuke sat in the middle, and Kasper and Candice sat in the back, the jet closing and powering up as the hangar doors slowly opened up, showing Barnard's Star setting over the beach, city and mansion, the beautiful orange-red hue of the sky and sea, perhaps, signaling their soon-to-come victory.

Hopefully it would be a victory, hopefully they could finally put an end to this nightmare that had haunted them for years, once and for all, as they look into the sky, ready, the jet plotting the course towards the last Darkstar base.

The air rushed past the jet, which very soon broke the sound barrier, as they flew through the clouds, then above them, the stars shining brightly above even the jet, as it flew and flew, faster and faster, crossing the sea at immense speeds, before it approached a tropical island with a volcano atop it, and large black and red structures dotted throughout it.

This was the place, this was the final bastion of the terrorist who had torn so many lives apart, for over twenty years now.

And now, finally, at long last, it was time for them to be stopped, for their schemes to end, once, and for all.

## Chapter 362 - Falling Star

The island was quiet, far too quiet. Not a single living thing could be heard, no bugs, no birds, no sea life, no island animals of any sort. The only sounds present were the soft hum of the generators, and the footsteps of the six visiting.

"This place is...creepier than I expected." Jack remarks.

"You should always expect something to exceed your expectations." Falqo replies. "That way, it never does."

He then moves his arm to stop them, and looks at the ground.

"Laser tripwire." He remarks, looking up at the roof to see two turrets stationed there. "Connected to automated laser turrets."

"Of course..." Kasper groans, as they all step over the tripwire and quickly move up against the back wall of the building to avoid visual detection from the turrets. "I'm definitely putting this in my game."

Then, they see a door next to them, granted, one shut tight by an electronic lock, connected to a camera, eye scanner, hand scanner and fingerprint scanner.

"Well, that's convenient..." Jack remarks, as Kasper creates a hard light copy of the soldier Falqo had captured, said soldier being scanned by everything as the door slowly opens.

"Remind me to thank Kooji the next time I'm at the graveyard." Falqo remarks, Kasper briefly glaring at him.

As they walk inside the building, Kasper creates hard light Darkstar suits for each of them, while they walk through the hallways, dimly lit by red overhead lights

"These guys really went all-in on the 'we're evil' motif." Falqo mutters, as they soon saw a door at the end of one of the turns, and two guards stationed at said door.

When they walked towards it, the guards noticed them, one putting his hands on his gun and communicator, and the other putting his hands on his gun and an alarm button on the wall next to him, both of them, even with thei faces hidden, seeming suspicious of the six.

"Identification, please." One of the soldiers asks, as Falqo walks up to him.

"Look, pal, we've been called by the big A himself to carry out a little stealth bombin' op, and he's not gonna' be happy if we're late because of you two. So just let us through real quick and it'd be a huge help."

"...That just confirmed our suspicions." The other soldier replies. "We only recruit people who are six feet tall, and we definitely don't recruit people with attitudes as snarky as yours."

And at that, the alarm is sounded, the communicator spoken into, as the soldiers point their guns at the six and fire at them.

## Chapter 363 - Discovered

Jack, Andromeda, Candice, Kasper, Shunsuke and Falqo all quickly dodge the bullets, as Andromeda slashes the soldiers' heads off and Shunsuke bursts down the door.

"Let's get in, quickly!" Kasper shouts, as they run into the door, which happened to be an elevator, rushing down and to their right, the temperature quickly rising as it did so.

"Looks like we're goin' inside the volcano..." Falqo remarks, as the elevator stops and opens, revealing two more soldiers, who Falqo knocks out with a kick to the head for each, grunting a bit from the pain of kicking the helmets, as they run into the area.

Metal platforms upheld by scaffolding and rock surrounded a pillar of lava in the shape of rings, Darkstar mining robots continuing their work as more soldiers fired at the group, who dodged the bullets as Jack, Kasper and Shunsuke fired back, hitting a few of the soldiers though barely leaving small dents in their armor.

"Time to switch up our strategy!" Shunsuke yells, putting his Winchester on his back, putting on his brass knuckles, and running towards the soldiers, dodging and blocking their gunfire, as he punches both of them to the ground, caving in their helmets as a result, leaving them motionless.

Jack fiddles around for one of his grenades, as a soldier attempts to snipe him, Andromeda catching the bullet and throwing it back, through the soldier's eye lens, causing him to fall to the ground, dead.

"Thanks, Anne!" Jack shouts, throwing the grenade at a group of soldiers and plugging his ears, the grenade exploding and blasting the soldiers and piece of the platform they were standing on down onto the lower platform, some soldiers and fragments falling into the lava as they screamed.

"There's an elevator!" Candice yells, pointing at, indeed, an elevator.

"Well, let's go in." Falqo replies.

The temperature was scorching, at the bottom floor where the elevator stopped, everyone was sweating, as they saw a tunnel held up by more scaffolding and lit by lava lamps.

"Why did it have to be a damn volcano lair...?" Falqo groans, as they all walk through the tunnel, seeing a massive metal door at the end of it, fighting through the soldiers and turrets guarding it, as they burst it open, and run in, seeing Tsunoi, Cygnus, and the Darkstar Scientist all waiting there for them.

"Welcome to Volcano Base 1, Jack, Andromeda, others." Tsunoi says. "What can we do for you tonight?"

## Chapter 364 - Darkstar Reunited

"So you're all back together..." Jack softly growls, glaring at Tsunoi, who merely smiles darkly back.

"Yep, Darkstar's been rebuilding its numbers ever since our defeat at Sciarhiel Castle." Tsunoi replies coldly. "Soon, we will be ready to launch our ultimate attack, and take the Human Star Realm for ourselves."

"That's not going to happen!" Jack roars, pointing his gun at Tsunoi, who just kept his smile.

"And who's gonna' lead you all, anyway?" Falqo demands. "Ain't Allen got brain damage right now?"

"Oh...about that." Tsunoi responds. "What you saw before was just the beginning. Now...he is complete."

Then, they hear the sound of wheels turning, and look into the darkness behind the three Darkstar leaders to see...Allen emerging from it, his arms and legs cut off as his body was fused to a wheelchair, black and red of course, and outfitted with dozens of weapons, most prominently a railgun on either side, and now his hair had regrown, and he seemed to have more scars than ever.

"Give him more and more weapons, he still can't lead you all without a brain." Falqo taunts.

"...Oh...but I have my brain back." Allen replies after a moment of silence, shocking the group of six to their core.

"...no..." Jack breathes.

"I presume you are wondering how my mind was restored." Allen remarks. "Well, to explain it simply, I had my memories and personality recorded onto two hard drives, which were installed into my brain while you were off fighting in the Netraxian War. With this new body of mine, I am now the perfect version of myself."

"You should have stayed dead..." Andromeda growls, glaring viciously at Allen.

"Then Kasper should have as well." Allen replies coldly, returning the glare, as the rest of the six glared at him as well.

"I'm startin' to think you've just always been a psycho, just like the rest of 'em." He mutters.

"No...Rosenstock destroyed my life, and I am going to make him pay for it." Allen retorts. "Even if I have to raze every world, and kill every person, under his rule, to do so!"

"YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Shunsuke roars. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT REVENGE, YOU JUST WANT TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

"DON'T TELL *ME* WHAT *I* WANT!" Allen roars back, firing on Shunsuke, him and the rest of the six dodging out of the way as the railgun rounds explode, pulverizing the piece of the platform they hit when they did so!

"It seems we can finally get on with this..." Cygnus remarks, his lower eyelids rising, proving a smile.

## Chapter 365 - Nova

Tsunoi takes out his pistol and starts firing railgun rounds at Jack and Andromeda, who do their best to dodge the bullets as Jack fires back at Tsunoi, who blocks with his armored forearm before throwing a grenade at Jack, who throws one back, the grenades colliding and, of course, creating a violent explosion.

Tsunoi rushes at the two through the smoke cloud and swings two Psychic Weapons in the shape of Kunai at them, Andromeda barely blocking with her own Psychic Weapons as she slashes Tsunoi back, leaving a slash on his armor and a cut in his skin, the cut beginning to heal.

Cygnus sends his Psychic Weapons at Candice and Kasper, Candice tackling Kasper out of the way as she quickly dissipates the Psychic Weapons.

"Annoying brat..." Cygnus growls, rushing in to slash at Candice's face, Candice quickly blocking with her arm, which a clawmark is left in, revealing what looked like metal in a hexagonal pattern, rather than blood or muscle.

Kasper quickly forms a giant boxing glove to punch Cygnus back, Cygnus landing on his feet and glaring at them viciously.

"You are all going to pay for this!" He screams, forming more Psychic Weapons to send at them.

Falqo and Shunsuke were dodging Allen's bullets and missiles, as Shunsuke throws a punch at him and Falqo swings his machete at him.

Allen blocks both attacks with the railguns, which then lower down quickly to bat both of Allen's opponents out of the way, and fire at them again.

Shunsuke ducks beneath the railgun round as Falqo leaps over it, swinging his machete down at Allen, the railgun suddenly turning into an arm to grab the machete and, before Falqo could fully register what just happened, slam him to the ground.

"Argh!" Falqo roars, as Shunsuke goes to throw another punch at Allen.

The Scientist was watching the three battles take place, as he pressed a few buttons on the pad on his forearm, causing Darkstar robots to fly in from the tunnels to fire upon the six.

Jack, Andromeda, Candice, Kasper, Shunsuke and Falqo all manage to dodge the explosive bullets, as Jack and Shunsuke fire at the Scientist, whose forcefield takes the rounds for him.

Then, from behind, Cygnus goes to drive a Psychic Weapon towards the back of Andromeda's head, Andromeda blocking with her own Psychic Weapon, which grabs Cygnus' arm to throw him back.

"You..." Cygnus snarls.

## Chapter 366 - Supernova

Tsunoi throws a number of Kunai at Jack and Andromeda, Andromeda deflecting them as she rushes at him to slash at him.

Tsunoi forms a Wakizashi to block her slashes, leaping back to fire at her again, Jack firing at the railgun rounds to make them explode in mid-air as he fires at Tsunoi, who leaps and weaves around every bullet.

"Is this the best you can do, Jack?" Tsunoi taunts, forming a Yari and rushing in to stab at Jack, who leaps back to let Andromeda grab the Yari with her Psychic Weapons and use it as leverage to slam Tsunoi to the ground, slashing at him again, Tsunoi leaping away.

Cygnus quickly gets back on his feet and sees Candice and Kasper sending attacks at him, which he contorts his body to dodge, the cracking of bones being heard as he laughed.

"I know you still fear me..." He says gleefully, as he sends more Psychic Weapons at them, Kasper forming a forcefield to block them as Candice negates the rest, the two rushing at Cygnus to slash at him with the swords they had formed.

Cygnus blocks with a Psychic Weapon as he goes to gut Kasper with his bare hand, Candice tackling Kasper out of the way and slashing Cygnus' hand open, causing him to growl in pain.

Shunsuke was firing bullet after bullet at Allen, whose railguns kept blocking those bullets and the slashes from Falqo's machete.

"Goddammit, this is unfair!" Falqo roars, leaping back and dodging a railgun round. "All I have is a fuckin' machete!"

"LIfe isn't fair, Distler." Allen retorts, blocking another punch from Shunsuke, as he rolls backwards and smiles darkly at the two, as the rocket launchers on the wheelchair fired at the two of them again, Shunsuke and Falqo dodging as fast as they could, barely dodging at that, while Shunsuke fires at Allen, who tilts his head to dodge, smiling still.

And then, the wheelchair began to shift and change, lower portion turning into legs, upper portions turning into arms, and other portions covering Allen's torso, as some weapons turned into hands and feet, others simply changing their positions, as Allen stood taller and taller, towering over his two opponents, revealing to the six, who all looked along with the villains, to see Allen, standing in his exosuit, staring down at all of them as though he were a true titan.

"I believe that this..." Allen starts. "...is the beginning of your inevitable, and ultimate, destruction, and that of the Human Star Realm."

## Chapter 367 - Hypernova

Allen then immediately rushes at Shunsuke, and throws a punch at him, Shunsuke raising his arms to block, as Allen then opens his fist to grab Shunsuke's arms, and fling him into Falqo, sending them both flying towards Candice and Kasper, Cygnus sidestepping them as they collide.

"...WHAT?!" Andromeda screams, as she lets Tsunoi stab her in the arm so she can grab him and throw him at Allen, who bats Tsunoi out of the way with his forearm and fires dozens and dozens of bullets at Jack and Andromeda, who frantically, and barely, dodge said bullets, panting and sweating as they did so.

"My greatest achievement...so far..." The Scientist remarks, as one of his robots hands him a bow and quiver full of arrows, which he takes and uses to fire an explosive arrow at Andromeda, who notices and blocks with a Psychic Weapon, the blast knocking some bullets away.

"This is just getting dumb!" Jack yells, firing at Allen, who blocks the bullets wit his arm and then uses that arm to fire a plasma blast at Jack, who dodges as fast as possible, the plasma blast hitting and disintegrating the piece of the platform Jack was just on in a fiery explosion!

"What the--" Andromeda starts, as Cygnus slashes her across her face.

"FORGET ABOUT ME, *YOUR MAJESTY*?!" Cygnus shrieks, as he kicks Andromeda in the stomach with his spiked boot to send her flying, Jack firing at him as he catches the bullets with his Psychic Weapons, Jack rolling to the side ride as they're sent at him so that he could dodge, though Cygnus then just grabbed his gun arm.

"I am going to enjoy dismembering you, human." Cygnus snarls, glaring into Jack's eyes, as he forms a Psychic Weapon in his other hand to drive into Jack's stomach!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jack screams, as Cygnus tosses him aside, and tilts backward to dodge a missile sent by Allen.

Andromeda is quick to catch the missile, and throws it back at Cygnus, who dodges it but is slashed back by Andromeda's Psychic Weapons, wheezing a bit as he had been slashed in the midsection.

"I remember our first encounter..." Cygnus remarks, chuckling darkly. "Unfortunately for you, it's not going to end like it did last time. Kiyomasu! CAN'T *SAVE! **YOU!***"

However, he is grabbed and tossed aside by Allen, who kicks Andromeda in the torso to send her into a rocky part of the volcano, leaving an imprint in her shape in said wall as she fell out of it, falling to the ground as multiple bones cracked.

## Chapter 368 - Madness Unfolds

"ANNE!!!" Jack screams, as he takes out his last grenade and throws it at Allen, who crosses his arms to block both the explosion and the subsequent fire blast from the flamethrower Jack had brought with him.

"You're out of your league, boy!" Allen roars, as the machine guns on his shoulders took aim at Jack and fired at him, Jack leaping back and running to avoid the storm of bullets, as he fired back with his sniper rifle, which did little to so much as dent Allen's new armor.

Allen smiles darkly again as he fires another plasma blast at Jack, who leaps forward as fast as possible as the plasma blast explosion blasts him back.

The Scientist prepares to fire another arrow at Jack, but his forcefield blocks a missile from Kasper, and he turns to fire at him instead, Candice catching the arrow to thrust it at the Scientist's shield repeatedly, beginning to crack it.

When the shield breaks, the Scientist blocks the arrow with one of his own, and whacks Candice in the side of the head with his bow, before dodging a slash from Kasper and leaping back to let two robots fire at him.

Kasper blocks with a shield that turns into a cannon, which blasts the robots' heads off before firing at the Scientist, who dodges the blasts and fires a Huscil arrow at the cannon to dissipate it, Kasper quickly dodging the arrow.

Then, Jack is thrown into the wall near them, his own bones being heard cracking, as Candice picks him up to dodge a plasma blast along with Kasper and the Scientist, Allen pointing his arm at them.

"You are all going to perish by my hand." Allen says, glaring at them as the lava pillar behind him shrouded most of his body, save for his glowing red robotic eye, in shadow.

Falqo leaps up from behind Allen to slash at his neck, but Allen merely grabs the machete again, and throws Falqo at the four, sending them into the wall.

"Agh!" Candice yelps.

"Ugh!" Kasper grunts.

"Why?!" The Scientist demands.

"Stay out of my way, Kubat." Allen orders. "Or you will be permanently relieved of duty."

"Y-yes, Sir!" The Scientist, Kubat, replies, leaping away from Jack, Candice and Kasper. Then, Allen fires another railgun round at them, Candice and Kasper both making shields to block the explosion, which causes the entire section of the platform everyone was on to fall down to a lower one, causing that one to break and tilt, and dangerously close to the searing hot lava directly below the platforms!

"S...so...hot..." Shunsuke groans, beginning to stand back up as he held his chest in pain from the broken ribs he had.

## Chapter 369 - Melting Resolve

"To think, you were the ones who defeated my forces prior." Allen remarks. "Perhaps I no longer need Darkstar to fulfil my goals..."

"You're...a-agh...insane..." Jack growls, glaring at Allen with searing hatred in his eyes.

"Perhaps I am...but Rosenstock is to blame for it." Allen retorts.

"Would you shut up about that?!" Andromeda screams, glaring at Allen as though she were a demon straight out of Hell, not helped by the lava illuminating her like one. "You are the most petty person I've ever had the misfortune of meeting, and one of the most cruel!"

"...Shut up, Socqreath Queen." Allen growls, illuminated similarly by the lava.

Shunsuke was taking aim at Allen from behind him, and fires at the back of his neck, but two pistols mounted on Allen's shoulders shot the bullet out of the air as Allen turned towards him, and fired a plasma blast at him.

Shunsuke leaps out of the way of the plasma blast, grunting from the pain of moving that fast with broken ribs, as Falqo fires at Allen using a railgun from a dead soldier, Allen firing his own railgun round at the one Falqo fired, as they collide and explode, shaking the area and causing the platforms to start to sink into the lava below!

"NO!" Jack screams, coughing up blood as he did so.

Then, Allen walked slowly towards Jack, stomping as he did so, preparing to grab him, aiming to toss him into the lava, Kasper firing at Allen with missiles. Allen's own missile launchers counter Kasper's causing the same result as the railgun round collision.

"Grr...we can't use explosives in here anymore..." Kasper remarks, as Andromeda slashes Allen with her Psychic Weapons, Allen forming a hard light shield to block the Psychic Weapons as the shield then explodes in Andromeda's face to send her skidding across the platform, growling in pain as she slid across the quickly-heating-up metal.

"PLEASE, STOP!" Candice screams, as Allen turns towards her, seeing that she was crying hard. "P-please...j-just...s-stop...wh...wh-what did...wh-what did we ever d-do to you...? Th-think about...a-all the families...y-you're going to t-tear apart..."

"Quite frankly...I don't care anymore." Allen replies coldly, glaring viciously at Candice. "The only thing I care about now, is burning everything Rosenstock has worked to build, everyone he has tried to protect, to the ground. And then, I'm going to kill him."

Then, he starts stomping towards her, his face contorted in white hot fury.

"This isn't a television show, girl." He snarls. "You're not going to talk me out of this."

## Chapter 370 - Leader no More

Allen then fires a number of missiles at Candice, who slices them apart with her Psychic Weapons, which she then uses to block the explosions.

"Hmm...I took you for a non-fighter." He growls.

"I've learned a lot over these years." Candice retorts. "If I really have to fight you...then so be--"

She is cut off and forced to dodge three consecutive railgun rounds, which causes the platforms to sink into the lava even more.

Kasper is quick to create multiple cannons to fire at Allen with, Allen blocking the blasts as he fires a plasma blast at them, Kasper creating a forcefield to block, the forcefield immediately destroyed as Kasper and Candice are sent flying, and fall onto a piece of the platform that was rapidly sinking into the lava!

"...Uuuughhhh..." Cygnus groans, waking up near the lava, as he looked towards Allen, who was currently throwing punches at Shunsuke, shaking the volcano base even more.

"...I...was tossed aside...by a human?!" Cygnus roars, standing back up, and glaring at Allen. "No...I thought I was humoring you by pretending to be your equal...but now I see that you see me as nothing more than another pawn!"

And at that, he starts to stand up, glaring more and more at Allen, who stomps Shunsuke to the ground, Shunsuke screaming in agony from his back touching the lava directly below the platform.

"...Kasp..." Candice breathes.

"Yeah, Ca...Candy...?" Kasper replies.

"...If...if this is how it all ends for us..." Candice starts. "...Then...I just want you to know...I have always loved you."

And then, she kisses him, Kasper closing his eyes and kissing back, feeling Candice's tears rolling down her cheeks, and his, as they hugged, the piece of the platform they were sitting on sinking faster and faster into the lava.

Right then, however, Andromeda manages to grab them both, and throw them to safety.

"Agh! Anne!" Candice shouts happily, as Shunsuke is thrown at their feet, unconscious and badly burned.

"This...is...over." Allen states, pointing his arm at Andromeda's head. "You were a...rather amusing experiment, but now, the experiment is over."

Andromeda only glares, staring down the barrel of the arm.

"ALLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cygnus shrieks from behind them.

"I told you not to interf--" Allen starts, but is cut off as a Psychic Weapon is driven directly through his heart!

"...Wh...whhhh...whaaaa..." Allen wheezes, slowly looking down at the gash in his chest, and then at Cygnus.

"I...am commanded..." Cygnus starts, driving Psychic Weapons into Allen's wrists and ankles. "...BY NO ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And at that, Cygnus swings his arm to point towards the lava pillar, the Psychic Weapons rushing into it, carrying Allen with them.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screams, right before he is submerged in the lava.

## Chapter 371 - Fear's Climax

"Now...this ENDS!" Cygnus howls, screaming at the top of his lungs as his skin began to melt, his mask falling off to revealed his still lipless mouth, stitches remaining at its sides, his eyes glowing bright orange-yellow, his Psychic Weapons becoming visible.

"What the--" Tsunoi starts, before looking up in horror to see a dome of eyes forming around them, each gruesome eye staring at seemingly everyone at once, barring Cygnus himself.

"Y-you...t-traitor!" Kubat screams, Cygnus laughing maniacally, his laughing echoing throughout the dome.

"I WILL BE PUTTING AN END TO DARKSTAR, NOW!" He roars, as he forms thorny vines to hold everyone in place.

"G-GHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jack screams, his pupils dilating, as he felt his heartbeat rapidly increasing. When he tried to blink, he couldn't, when he tried to struggle through the vines, he couldn't, and it was the same for everyone else caught within the dome.

Andromeda, Candice, Kasper, Shunsuke, Falqo, Tsunoi and Kubat, all forced under Cygnus' spell, as the Socqreath begins bombarding them with small Psychic Weapons the shape of throwing daggers, which pierced through their flesh and increased their fear even more.

As terrified as they all were, there was no screaming, there wasn't a single sound from any of them, they were all frozen in place!

"DO YOU FEEL IT?!" Cygnus screams as though he were the most visceral banshee imaginable. "DO YOU FEEL THE PRIMAL, INSTINCTUAL FEAR, COURSING THROUGH YOUR VEINS AND NERVES?! DO NOT TRY TO FIGHT IT, DO NOT TRY TO RESIST IT! YOU CAN'T! IT WILL SHUT DOWN ALL OF YOUR ORGANS AND BURST YOUR HEARTS WITH ADRENALINE! YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE! AND I AM GOING TO EMERGE VICTORIOUS, AND RIP ALL OF THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT, LIMB, FROM DISGUSTING HUMAN LIMB, UNTIL ALL OF HUMANKIND IS EXTINCT! BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT YOUR KIND DESERRRRRRRRVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And then, a dagger stabbed through Cygnus' head, and seemed to absorb his Psychic Weapons into himself!

"Wh-wh-wh..." Cygnus groans weakly, his eyes rolling up towards the dagger, which then starts electrifying his brain and, likely, his entire nervous system.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Cygnus shrieks, the loudest he had ever been, and then, silence, as smoke comes out of his ears, and he falls over forwards, dead.

And then, they hear heavy breathing from the darkness, and hear footsteps.

## Chapter 372 - Desperate Escape

The one who walked out of the darkness, was Phantom, holding his hand out as the dagger returned to it.

"Y-you..." Andromeda breathes, as Phantom slowly walks towards her and Candice, his dagger sparking with what looked like electricity.

Andromeda tried to form Psychic Weapons to send at him, but every Psychic Weapon she formed was immediately absorbed into the dagger!

"Wh-what the Hell?!" Andromeda screams, as Jack grabs her by the wrist and they all begin running from Phantom, who just walks after them, still breathing heavily, not saying anything as he walked towards them.

Kasper tried to create platforms for them to leap on like stairs, but those were absorbed into Phantom's dagger as well, leaving them with only one option, to climb the rock wall of the volcano.

Shunsuke grabs onto it, as everyone else grabs onto his Winchester holster, and then he started climbing, breathing heavily and raspily from, the pain as he did so, not very discernable from Phantom's own breathing, as the latter began walking up the wall towards them!

"Wh-wha?!" Shunsuke yelps, climbing up the wall as fast as he could while everyone else held on as tight as they could, for dear life.

Shunsuke kept climbing, seeing that the floors had numbers, and began to count them.

One.

Were the footsteps getting closer?

Two.

Was the breathing getting louder?

Three.

Did they hear the spark of electricity behind them?

Four.

Did something just swing something at them?!

Five.

Oh God, please let the elevator be close!

Six.

Please!

Seven.

PLEASE!

Eight.

*PLEASE!*

Nine.

***PLEASE!***

Ten!

They ran as fast as they could into the working elevator, and closed it to set it to the top floor, where they had just been.

As they exited, they heard climbing from beneath, and just continued to run, as fast as they could with their injuries, as more blood trickled from Jack's mouth!

They had to get out!

They had to!

THEY HAD TO!

*THEY HAD TO!*

***THEY HAD TO!***

And then, Phantom, who had burst out from beneath the elevator door, dodged a blast from someone standing at the entrance to the building, that someone being none other than Amaya Kiyomasu.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see you in my life, Keys!" Falqo shouts, as Phantom continued to walk towards them.

"Don't talk, just get near me." Kiyomasu replies, as they all do so.

Right as Phantom throws his dagger at them, they vanish in a flash of orange light, leaving the dagger to stab into a tube.

Phantom picks it up, and stares at it, before looking up at the sky.