Chapter 442: Chapter 442: The Impact of the Shadow Mask Incident
Upon hearing the Ancient One's explanation, Robert's eyes flashed with understanding. He realized that the mirror dimension and sealing techniques were not the same. The mirror dimension was essentially an enhanced version of the dark dimension and could not truly isolate itself from the outside world.
Just like how the mirror dimension could be broken from within, if one could find the space node of the mirror dimension from the outside, it could be broken externally as well. Otherwise, such space magic as the mirror dimension would be invincible...
"She created this space?" General Minta looked towards the Ancient One with a hint of fear in his eyes. Even though the Ancient One's appearance was indeed unassuming and harmless, General Minta had never met her before. But from this mirror dimension, he could infer just how terrifying her power was.
Thus, General Minta became increasingly dissatisfied with Tohru. He couldn't understand why, after obtaining the Shadow Mask, Tohru would swell with arrogance and commit such heinous acts, provoking so many terrifying individuals.
One must know, even when the Shadow Army first came to Earth and became a part of it, they did not encounter such powerful beings. General Minta would rather return to the past and be sealed again than face Robert and the Ancient One.
"Alright, those people outside should have recovered by now, right?" Robert glanced at the slightly panicked General Minta and asked the Ancient One. After all, she was the master of the mirror dimension. Once the shadow soldiers were killed, neither Robert nor Clark knew the situation outside. So Robert was unsure about the condition of those whose shadows were devoured by the shadow soldiers.
"Except for those who have already died, most have recovered. However, this disaster has caused hundreds of thousands to die in their sleep..." The Ancient One sighed softly.
As the guardian of Earth's dimensional plane for centuries, the Ancient One had seen countless deaths. However, a record of nearly a million deaths had a profound impact on Earth.
Tohru's shadow soldiers devoured shadows almost entirely at random. Unless one was stronger than the shadow soldiers, escaping their grasp was impossible.
Due to devouring numerous shadows, the shadow soldiers reached a peak strength, able to battle Robert in his Furious Ape state. This led to an overwhelming number of casualties.
Besides those directly devoured by the shadow soldiers, many others died from various accidents after falling unconscious, which must also be attributed to the shadow soldiers. After all, without losing their shadows and falling unconscious, those accidents wouldn't have happened.
As a result, a large number of Earth souls entered the Hell dimension, causing many Hell lords and demons to stir.
These Hell dimension entities have always viewed Earth as their hunting ground, a territory they must invade. They simply haven't succeeded yet.
Now, with so many people suddenly dying on Earth, it's like a wounded prey attracting predators. Many beasts follow the scent of blood, aiming to strike while it's down.
"Hundreds of thousands!" Robert's eyes flickered with astonishment at this number. Although he had seen greater casualties in the Dragon Ball world, where entire planets were obliterated, resulting in billions of deaths, the presence of Dragon Balls in that world allowed the dead to be revived multiple times. Hence, mass deaths didn't hold the same shock value as they did here. In this world, those who died were truly gone, with no chance of revival...
"So, the Shadow Army is truly the culprit!" Robert turned his gaze to General Minta.
Had it not been for this guy trying to take over Tohru's body, Tohru wouldn't have gained control of the Shadow Mask. Coupled with the mask's influence, Tohru was led down this path. Thus, General Minta couldn't escape the blame, especially since Tohru had already been killed by Robert.
"Please, don't misunderstand. These things weren't my idea. I can make amends. Please don't take action..." Seeing Robert's gaze, General Minta trembled. He didn't want to experience that terrifying feeling again and hurriedly pleaded with Robert.
"Besides, you should know, behind me is a powerful dark dimension. We have an agreement with Earth's dimension, allowing us suitable identities here as an anchor point. It won't let me die easily. The dark power will continuously revive me. It's all meaningless!"
"You are right, I do know these things." Robert nodded with a smile, initially easing General Minta's tension. But Robert's following words made him tense again, "Perhaps you were unaware in your slumber, but I've already killed several of your companions. Your dark dimension can't save you!"
"What?!" General Minta exclaimed. He was about to control his body to escape when a small bottle flew from Robert's wrist. It bore the words "Great Demon." Seeing this bottle, General Minta instinctively felt something was wrong, especially considering Robert's words!
With a "buzz," before General Minta could react, Robert controlled a green stream of energy to use the Mafuba technique. General Minta felt his body spinning uncontrollably, his consciousness becoming blurred.
When General Minta regained some awareness, he was in complete darkness—not the familiar dark dimension. In this darkness, he couldn't sense any dark dimension power at all!
Yes, General Minta was now sealed in the small bottle by the Mafuba. A glimmer of light flickered on the sealing spell, silencing the bottle and completely sealing General Minta's escape...
"Impressive! No matter how many times I see it, I must admit your sealing technique is both bizarre and powerful!" The Ancient One looked at the bottle, admiring it.
Sealing a large body into a small object wasn't difficult; many sealing techniques could do that. But to seal someone into an ordinary small bottle like the Mafuba was indeed strange and exceptional...
"I'll destroy him here. Once that's done, you can lift the mirror dimension," Robert said without explaining the Mafuba. Apart from its long casting time, the Mafuba was an almost unbeatable sealing technique.
"Buzz!"
"Boom!"
To ensure safety, Robert charged up a full-power Kamehameha. As the explosion reverberated in the mirror dimension, the entire space trembled. This situation made the Ancient One frown, as maintaining the mirror dimension in this state required considerable effort and magic, making the Ancient One feel like she was working overtime again.
"It's done!" As the smoke cleared, General Minta and the Shadow Mask were completely destroyed. Without the dark dimension's power, the Shadow Mask couldn't regenerate, and General Minta's life ended in the mirror dimension.
"What?!" Simultaneously, the only other conscious General Ika sensed his comrade's death. Despite being in the mirror dimension, he felt General Minta's demise.
"The previous deaths were quiet. This one seems to have been caught doing something bad?" General Ika smiled bitterly. He hadn't heard of his comrades' deaths before, but this time, the Shadow Soldiers' actions caused quite a commotion, even involving Batman.
Although Tohru avoided targeting Gotham and nearby cities due to General Ika's presence, the Shadow Soldiers' incident was too big. Even Batman was trying to resolve it, knowing that letting shadows be devoured on such a scale would lead to an unimaginable disaster for humanity.
"Is it resolved? Looks like I didn't need to intervene. But who resolved it? Him? Or them?" Batman furrowed his brows, contemplating after hearing General Ika's words.
Batman had closely monitored the Shadow Soldiers incident, aiming to find Tohru. However, he hadn't found Tohru or the battlefield, making him feel like he was falling behind...
"Alfred, investigate any possible battlefields and assess the damage from this incident..." Batman ordered. This Alfred was his butler, not Tohru.
"Yes, Master Wayne." Alfred quickly began the investigation and assessment. While he couldn't find the mirror dimension, Alfred could determine the casualties, given the extensive reach of Wayne Enterprises.
"Master Wayne, this incident has roughly claimed over a million lives, not counting the injured..." Alfred's heavy voice soon reported. Such casualties marked a global catastrophe, shaking human society to its core. The Shadow Soldiers' actions hadn't taken long, making the toll even more shocking.
Who could ignore such swift and massive casualties?
"Contact Stark Industries to collaborate on a post-disaster compensation plan, easing the victims' suffering..." Batman initially intended to handle it alone but quickly changed his mind. Wayne Enterprises couldn't cover everything, especially certain sectors dominated by Stark Industries. A joint effort was needed to address the aftermath properly.
"Yes, Master Wayne." Alfred promptly began preparations.
"Supernatural incidents... I didn't expect that an insignificant mask could cause such damage..." Batman mused, looking at the Ika Mask in his hand. His deep gaze made General Ika shudder, fearing Batman might torment his consciousness. After all, Batman was now the master of the Ika Mask.
"Another one dead. Besides the ones I've found, only Ika and Lei Su are left, right? What terrifying being is hunting us?" Meanwhile, General Tara, also sensing a comrade's death, was confused.
From early on, Tara had created a clone of Lady Gao, acting under her identity to devour numerous demons, strengthening himself. He aimed to plunge the world into darkness, allowing the dark dimension to descend and devour Earth.
However, as time passed, while Tara's strength grew, the constant deaths of his comrades left him fearful. Even with his increased power, Tara dared not show himself, fearing the shadow army killer would catch him, ending his life too.
Unintentionally, Robert's actions delayed Tara's plans countless times. With each death of a shadow army general, Tara's fear grew.
Tara began suspecting that this was Earth's dimension's plot to eliminate all the dark dimension's footholds. Out of fear of this potential targeting, Tara now concealed his presence, even slowing his demon-dev
ouring process...
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