Fourth Parallel Universe.
A wormhole abruptly tore open, and a green, turtle-shaped spaceship punched through the barrier separating the third and fourth parallel universes, landing firmly upon the surface of the Earth.
The hatch hissed open, and a few young people stepped out.
"I'm telling you, did we really have to rush like this? We just barely wrapped things up in the Third Parallel Universe, and the moment we turned around, we bolted. Even in a video game clearance, people don't rush through boss stages this fast," Kino grumbled, stepping out of the Black Tortoise and striking what he fancied to be a handsome pose as he surveyed his surroundings.
"Let me see who's lucky enough to be Kino's next opponent!"
His gaze swept back and forth. The Black Tortoise had parked in an exceptional spot; right in front of them stood a massive, towering palace.
It certainly looked like the enemy's main stronghold.
"Kino, we've got less than two days before Hades resurrects completely, we have to hurry!" Thales muttered instinctively from beneath his heavy backpack.
"Huh? Word has it that the Fourth Parallel Universe is occupied by Bradley, one of the Four Guardians under Hades, and also the ruling territory of the ultimate Cloud Bat Legion. How come there isn't a single soul here?" Devin crossed his arms, an expression of confusion on his face.
They certainly hadn't forgotten that Cloud Bat squad from shortly before.
Even though those soldiers had been instantly annihilated by Shendu, just seven individuals had been enough to assemble a Concentrated Cloud Bat Formation carrying a 1-black-hole energy rating. Logically speaking, this place ought to be a formidable, grueling bottleneck.
"Come on, let's go check out the front!" Kino pointed toward the palace, summoned his Flash Rider, and sped forward.
"Wait for me!"
After a long while, having scoured the palace and its surrounding area from top to bottom, the group failed to discover a single living soul.
This place was practically a ghost town, entirely devoid of human warmth.
Thales sat on the overhanging edge outside the palace, swinging his legs as he fell deep into thought.
Looking down from this vantage point, a straight, colossal canyon sliced across the surface of the earth below, as though torn apart by some catastrophic force of destruction. Back when they were still on the ground, he had simply assumed it was a unique local terrain feature, but seeing it from up here now...
"Hiss, looks like it was carved out by an external force," he muttered, rubbing his chin.
"I'm done for, how is there literally not a single person here? Could it be they heard tales of the great Kino's reputation in advance and fled in sheer terror? Hahaha!" Kino planted his hands on his hips and laughed heartily.
"Kino, stop putting on a show. I bet..." Thales hesitated for a moment before continuing, "this place was probably cleaned out by those two uncles."
"Oh? Fatty, how can you be so sure they're the ones who did it? Remember, they only left ahead of us by a hair."
"That's right, even if they're insanely strong, there's no way they could turn this place into a ghost town in less than half a day."
"Besides, looking at it, this place didn't just become like this a minute ago."
"Look." Thales held out his hand toward Kino, expanding the screen of his Energy Locker as Lisa's analytical voice rang out.
"Structural origin of the canyon ahead has been successfully analyzed. The cause of its formation is attributed to destruction by an extremely powerful surge of hetero-energy..."
"Detected residual hetero-energy on the Earth of the Fourth Parallel Universe. Recognized familiar hetero-energy signatures."
On the screen, two figures slowly materialized.
They were unmistakably the likenesses of Zoran and Shendu.
"Whoa…" Kino drew in a sharp breath of cold air and took another look at the deserted city. "Then where the heck did they go?"
"My guess," Thales pointed upward, "is another universe."
Kino collapsed backward onto the ground in absolute defeat, sighing heavily. "Their pace is way too fast! We don't even get to pick up scraps!"
He grabbed Thales by the collar. "Tell me, Fatty, do you think there's even the slightest chance that when we finally meet Hades, he'll already be gone too?" Kino posited a bold hypothesis.
"Highly likely," Thales nodded.
He understood the power of a Nebula Body better than anyone else right now.
"Then we might as well just go home," Kino mumbled, dropping his head. "Can't fight anyone, might as well go home and plant sweet potatoes."
"To see the living in person, and recover the corpse if dead, that is your mission, even if you are reduced to mere witnesses."
Master Wyatt's voice suddenly echoed in their ears.
Inside the Black Tortoise spacecraft, Master Wyatt wore a heavy, deeply furrowed expression, his face twisted into a knot.
Aboard the Black Tortoise was also Bradley's old cockpit module. Within the grand wheel of reincarnation, Bradley was technically meant to be one of the Beast Warriors themselves.
Yet now, Bradley was gone.
They couldn't find a single hair of him anywhere, which left the old master quite troubled. Death was certainly out of the question, the only thing left to do was catch up to Zoran and Shendu and ask what on earth had happened.
Yet at the rate things were going, those two freaks were clearing stages faster than they could sprint at full throttle!
Master Wyatt's face twisted in bitter anguish.
A tough predicament indeed...
These two otherworldly visitors, dragging each other along, who knew how massive an impact they would end up having on this world of theirs? Anyway, the predestined wheel of reincarnation had already been utterly shattered and scrambled to pieces.
At this point, all he could do was act like a live-stream camera and watch from the sidelines; besides that, there was nothing else he could do.
Meanwhile, the two demons currently occupying the thoughts of the youngsters had long since departed the Fourth Parallel Universe.
An empty, desolate ghost town wasn't worth lingering in.
Since they had already decided to steamroll straight through, the guiding philosophy was simple:
One-shot and move on.
As foreign interlopers, Shendu and Zoran only needed to consider how to amuse themselves, whereas Master Wyatt, the Ultra Beast Warriors, and the rest of the gang, acting as mere witnesses and camera operators, had far too much on their minds.
Move too slowly, and you'd only be left eating exhaust fumes in the rear.
Zoran gazed out at the dark, deep expanse of space, lowering his head in thought.
This was the Fifth Parallel Universe.
Hades's ultimate stronghold, his absolute core base. It was garrisoned by Hades's most fundamental military force, the Wolf Warriors, and guarded by Logan himself.
Naturally, there was nothing terrifying about that.
The primary issue was that Hades still needed nearly two full days to complete his resurrection.
Their pace was simply too blistering. The final boss hadn't even had the chance to revive yet, and they had already punched straight to the enemy's home turf.
"Are we speedrunning a bit too hard?" Zoran glanced toward Shendu, who simply shrugged helplessly in response.
He couldn't be blamed for this; who told the opponents to be so utterly incompetent?
Besides, his elder brother had pitched in too.
Shendu looked far off into the extreme distance, catching sight of the towering, majestic palace, Hades's ultimate lair.
In front of the palace gates, countless Wolf Warriors were densely arrayed in formation, guarding the final threshold.
Meanwhile, the last of the Four Guardians, Logan, stood alone before the palace steps, gazing into the distance with a grim, solemn look in his eyes.
He could feel it.
His heart constricted and then pounded furiously, the unmistakable portent before a violent tempest.
The adversary had arrived.
He had no idea whether he would be able to hold the line.
In the distance, Shendu took a step forward, a helpless smirk playing on his lips. "Since we're already here."
He curved the corner of his mouth and extended a hand toward the distant palace.
A wisp of light brewed within his palm.
This beam of light was not particularly violent or destructive; as it swept forward across the landscape, it felt merely like a gentle, harmless breeze.
It was the native power belonging to him alone: the power of the Monkey Talisman.
Logan suddenly felt his vision blur. Every single Wolf Warrior touched by that sweeping beam of light abruptly began to twist and warp.
Including himself.
"Let's leave the newly resurrected Hades a little surprise," Shendu chuckled, watching the mass of hamsters scrambling about in utter chaos in the distance.
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