Kuma, who had once been a cute teddy bear, has now transformed into a terrifying monster. He is massive, standing about 2 meters tall. His body is muscular, and his face is terrifying, featuring two sharp fangs and sword-like claws.
Now Taffie is facing this monster. There's nothing she can do but stay on guard. She can only take a few steps back while drawing her sword, ready to fight if Kuma wants to.
"Why are you backing away? Am I that scary?" Jyu, who has now fused with Kuma, tries to talk to Taffie.
Taffie immediately startled; she was shocked to see the massive Kuma standing before her, able to speak. Previously, it could only make a "Grrr" sound.
"Who are you?"
Jyu immediately laughed upon hearing the question. "I have been reborn."
Jyu finally demonstrated his transformation ability. In line with the nature of his powers, Jyu could transform into his previous forms. This meant Jyu had three forms: human, doll, and a terrifying monster.
In the blink of an eye, Jyu had transformed back into a human. Taffie was even more startled, but when she saw this, Jyu burst out laughing. He was thoroughly satisfied, as if he'd successfully played a prank on his senior.
However, his prank led him to feel pain. Taffie approached him and hit him hard on the head.
"Idiot! This isn't the time for jokes. Close the dimensional portal right now!"
Jyu was in pain, but he couldn't protest because what Taffie said was true. He had to close the dimensional portal immediately so that the mystical creatures couldn't enter the human world. That way, the extinction of humanity could be prevented.
"But how?" Jyu was at a loss.
Cobra had been watching Jyu, who had transformed into a monster earlier. He was hiding behind the ruins of a building. When he saw Jyu looking confused, he approached him immediately.
"How did you open the dimensional portal?"
Jyu thought for a moment, "I looked at the moon, and then the dimensional portal slowly opened."
"That means the way to close it is the same. Maybe you can try staring at the moon in the Darkent realm; in truth, the moon in this realm is connected to the moon in the human realm. It's just that the moon here is shrouded in darkness."
Jyu immediately ran out of the demon palace grounds. In an open area, he stared directly at the moon in the Darkent realm, which was perfectly round but dark in color. He kept his gaze and thoughts focused on the moon.
It didn't take long for the darkness on the moon to begin fading. Now it was a golden yellow, just like the moon in the human realm. Eventually, the dimensional portal slowly closed. A moment later, it closed completely, and the mystical creatures could no longer enter or exit the human realm.
Success.
"We did it!" Jyu shouted joyfully as his mission was successful.
"Thank goodness," Taffie immediately sat down, as if releasing the exhaustion and pain that had been gnawing at her body.
"Hahahaha"
But amidst this joy, a loud laugh rang out. Then Alber appeared in the middle of Jyu and Cobra's group, who had gathered to celebrate their success. His ability to vanish was truly remarkable; undetected, he had suddenly appeared.
Everyone braced for battle. "You finally showed up. I've been looking for you this whole time," said Mamba, visibly excited upon seeing Alber.
"Calm down! From now on, I won't be staying here anymore."
Surprisingly, a dozen arabai appeared behind Alber. They all looked happy, even smirking mockingly as they stared at Jyu and his friends.
"You!" Jyu was shocked to see that Meito had recovered from the wounds he'd sustained during his fight with Jyu.
"How did you survive?"
Meito immediately laughed, "This is the greatness of my master, His Majesty Alber."
"You thought you could defeat us easily. One hit and you'd be defeated, is that it? We've been holding back the whole time, to lure you into our trap."
All the Arabai who had appeared immediately smiled triumphantly. Naturally, Jyu and his friends were shocked by Meito's revelation.
"What exactly are you doing?" Jyu snapped.
Alber then tossed a bottle of water at Jyu. "That's my way of thanking you."
"You know? I've been searching for Kuma's power for years. Your demonic power is now very useful to me. I was indeed holding back—I wanted you to lift Kuma's curse because you're the only one who can do it."
What Alber said was the truth. From the very beginning, he had indeed been searching for Kuma's power. When Jyu came to the Darkent realm to seek out the curse, Alber acted harshly, revealing his intent to kill Kuma. In reality, this was his way of deceiving Jyu, so that he would truly believe the curse was hidden within the demon's castle, thereby further motivating him.
When Jyu arrived at the demon's palace, Alber ordered his men to stand down. It was all part of a plan to get Jyu to reveal the path to Kuma's curse and free him from it. It was all a trap!
"Now, thanks to you, I can go to the moon. Goodbye!" said Alber with a triumphant smile.
"But wait a minute…"
Suddenly, he vanished, then reappeared behind Sizhi, who had been watching them from a distance the whole time. Sizhi hadn't even noticed his grandfather's presence.
Alber acted recklessly, stabbing Sizhi in the back with his sword. Blood immediately began to drip, and Sizhi even coughed up a significant amount of blood.
"Grandfather, why are you doing this?"
"Sizhi! Forgive your grandfather, but I had to do this for the honor of our family. Now rest in peace!"
Seeing this, Jyu immediately flew into a rage and tried to run toward Sizhi. But once again, Alber vanished and reappeared right in front of Jyu. Alber immediately attacked with a kick aimed straight at Jyu's stomach. Jyu was sent flying quite a distance, crashing into the rubble of a building.
"Don't be in such a hurry; we'll meet again someday."
Alber demonstrated his power once more. Suddenly, he flew away, and then, surprisingly, he and his subordinates vanished without a trace. Now they were gone.
***
Jyu pleaded with Cobra to heal Sizhi. Actually, Taffie had rejected this plan, because Sizhi had betrayed them and deserved to die. Jyu persisted until finally Cobra agreed to his request.
Sizhi received treatment from Cobra; he survived but still needed a considerable amount of time to recover fully.
Regardless of Sizhi's treatment, the situation between Cobra and his troops was truly complicated. They could only remain silent and reflect.
Jyu sensed this, especially since Alber's presence and the motive behind his trap remained unknown. Amid this confusion, Cobra was the most bewildered of all. He kept pacing back and forth aimlessly, as if deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Jyu, who was also curious about the mystery of the moon that Alber had revealed. Jyu felt that Cobra and his troops knew the answer.
"There's a myth that's been circulating in the Darkent realm for ages. The moon is a source of power; whoever goes there gains superhuman strength. If Alber goes there, I'm certain this myth is true. That means the destruction in the Darkent realm and the human realm is still ongoing."