As stated in legend, Shangri-La did seem like a peaceful and heavenly utopia. But Cory had an eerie feeling that it wouldn't remain like that forever.

The northern alps were blanketed in snow. And sure enough, the yetis populated the legendary city immensely. Sasquatch had acted as a translator for Everest, and had said that the Yetis hid themselves away in the mountains to avoid being seen by humans. And ever since hearing of how they stopped the Eternal Night, they felt safe around the Midnight Society.

But something seemed to unease them. Cory was worried about what that cause of unease might and may be…

After speaking with one of the elders, and with Sasquatch as a translator, Everest informed the others of the situation.

"He says that the elders have been hearing voices and having dark visions. It seems they're preparing for battle."

"That explains the crazy defenses." Max noted, eyeing the catapults loaded with mystic ice. There were spikes, guards, warriors, and all manner of mages and barriers.

"When is the dark threat arriving?" Sasquatch asked Everest. After grunting to the elder, the former Abominable Snowman goes wide-eyed. Nervously, he spoke to his brothers.

"Oh my…" Sasquatch gasped. "Our timing could not have been worse…"

"Bad again?" Bigfoot whimpered.

"Yes. VERY bad, again. It seems that finding Ancient Arcana will have to wait."

It was then that horns sounded. The townsfolk scrambled into their homes and to safety. Providence only stared out into the distance as the team armored themselves and entered their monster forms.

"One of the Abyssal Lords." He warned. "It's come. And it's brought its army…"

"DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! NOW!" Sasquatch yelled.

The black cloud darkness began seeping towards the village in the mountains. Inside were astral masses of cosmic black shadowy tentacles, and glowing lights that seemed to be numerous eyes. And chanting. Eldritch long moaning of chanting.

Ahagl ah mg. Nog ymg' ephailllln'gha nilgh'ri.

At the booming thunder of numerous voices, Sasquatch realized something with a gasp.

"WARRIORS!" He cried. "FORTIFY YOUR MINDS!"

He slammed his staff down, casting a mental barrier that amplified all other cast. All barriers became even stronger, and the defenses were armed and ready.

All was still and silent. Bigfoot whimpered and crouched down, with Van Helsing loading his shotgun and cocking it. Providence stepped forth, his hands crackling with dark green chaotic magic.

And from the purple glow in the clouds, an armored figure stepped forth, walking on a distorted cloud of blackness. It stared down on the assembled army with menacing intent.

"The Warrior…" Sasquatch realized.

The Abyssal Lord only flipped off the cloud and landed effortlessly, just outside the barrier. It walked up until it was right at it, and seemed to stare in their souls.

"Mind shields. Impressive." It chortled. "But it will not save you. It will not save you at all…"

"Your presence befoul these sacred grounds!" The Okash Elder yelled. "Begone or perish!"

"You? Make ME perish?" The Warrior chuckled. "How, mortal? I have lived for countless eons, and I have mastered each and every way to break you. Both in body, spirit…and mind."

"You're in over your head to face us yourself." Van Helsing added. "If you can't die, we'll just blow your brains out over and over and over again."

"Alone? Hmm hmm hmm hmm…have you not been listening?"

It was then that the shrill screams and demented demonic laughter echoed through the mountains. And then, living maddened corpses crawled to the top of the mountains, rising up with a terrifying screech!

"You stand no chance against these Deadites. And once you die, you will rise again and answer MY commands. Just what can you do in the face of sheer utter hopelessness?"

"The full might of Shangri-La stands against you, abyssal demon!" Sasquatch warned him a final time.

"Demon?" He chuckled yet again. "I am far worse…"

He slammed his staff into the ground, then pulled back a hand. Curled up into a fist, it began glowing a dark purple before…

"IA!"

What sounded like thunder slammed against the barrier, creating a massive crack! At this, the mages began scrambling.

"THE SHIELD! REINFORCE THE SHIELD!"

They heeded both Sasquatch and the elders' commands. Multiple layers were formed as the barrier quickly repaired itself, but the dark fighter kept pounding, with a second punch, then another, and then a spinning kick.

"WAH! HAH! IAH!"

Each blow became stronger and harder than the last. A leaping double-kick made the barrier ring like mad, those inside being as if fish when someone tapped on the tank. The Warrior instantly did a handspring back up, seeing that it still held. His eyes only frowned.

He cracked his neck and punched an open palm. And then…he slammed himself against the barrier!

The energy began crackling more and more intense as the Warrior forced himself through! He was reaching inside!

"Enough of this crap!" Van Helsing aimed his shotgun and blasted away, reloading quickly. The magic bullets seemed to make the Abyssal Lord flinch, but he powered through the blasts!

"He's almost through!"

Lucy Dark blasted forth a torrent of hellfire that the Warrior braced himself against and he retaliated by blasting out a dark orb of energy with a palm, the hybrid flying up to dodge it. She countered with a flying kick to the helmet, knocking the Warrior outside once again!

He was sent flying, but called his staff and extended it to great lengths with a thrust until it struck the mountain ground. He raced back with incredible speed, skidding to a halt once he reached the barrier.

The Warrior stood there. Silently. Perhaps he was trying to get inside their heads. But something was wrong. Providence didn't sense any whispers of madness.

The silence was suspenseful and long. And then, they heard it. A single whisper. Within all of their minds…

"Run."

Hold on…that wasn't in their heads…it was…right behind them!

Cory was too late to turn around. An iron fist slammed into the side of his helmeted face and visor, and instantly, the copy that The Warrior spawned charged and began ruthlessly pummeling the army!

The chaos that sprung was enough to drain enough focus from the barrier, and with a shoulder tackle, the Warrior broke through it like wet paper! Calling forth his staff and making his clone vanish, and easily took on the yeti warriors.

He slammed a large one to the ground, whacked Bigfoot with his staff, obliterated a giant ice ball with a dark matter beam, and even kicked a cannonball right back into the cannon it was fired from, destroying it with a powerful explosion!

Ymg' nilgh'ri mgah'n'gha ahnyth ya.

The voice reached out to Cory again, and it was enough of a distraction for the Warrior to kick him again, following with a powerful combo! Van Helsing tried to match him with monstrous strength from his armor, but the Warrior easily dodged, blocked, and countered with absolutely no effort at all!

Ph'nglui shogg.

The Deadites were screaming and running like mad! The hunters downed as many as they could, but unfortunately, some of the Yetis were bitten, and in a matter of seconds, they too joined the Deadite horde!

And all those who died no matter what rose as similar abominations. Ones that quickly began to overpower the defending forces.

"Joooooiiiiiiin uuuuuuusssss….."

"Dammit!" Van Helsing cursed, blowing the brains out of another Deadite as they began retreating. "It's too late for the city! We gotta find that Ancient Arcana, save as many yetis as we still can, and get the hell out of here!"

The second part was the only easy part. Sasquatch managed to teleport all yetis to the Mystic Realm where they would be safe. But, in his haste, he forgot to teleport THEMSELVES away as well!

Thus they had to get inside a palace and try to find the Ancient Arcana on the run. Guided by the Okash brothers, Cory remembered how, on their way here, Sasquatch explains that there was a secret passageway hidden beneath this palace.

But it was easier said than done. Everything was coming to life and attacking the group! Statues moved on their own and laughed before striking, the Darks forced to counter their strength with their own, shattering them into stone rubble.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention!" Sasquatch yelled. "Watch out for the-!"

"YAAAH!"

Cory narrowly leaped backwards before the spikes springing from the wall could skewer him!

"...traps…"

And that wasn't the only one either. More spikes fell from the ceiling, flame jets, swinging axes, crushing walls and ceilings, electric floors, chambers of wind, and even more stone guardians!

And when they finally did find that hidden staircase, Lisa felt like something was wrong the moment it was too dark for too long. And the quiet was enough to kill.

Sure enough, when the wallside torches were lit aflame with purple flame, a certain armored figure, along with tentacled blobs with many more tentacles sprouting from eldritch pentagrams on the ground, was waiting for them! Shoggoths!

"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" The Shoggoths cried in a tone dark and terrible as the Warrior stepped forth.

"DId you think I would not know why you were even here?" The Warrior asked. "Although, I am almost surprised that YOU are here, Howard. God couldn't save you in your own universe. He died. And now, He shall die again. What hope do you have against TRUE terror such as this?"

"Wait…Howard?!" Cory asked. "Hold on, he's lying, isn't he?"

"He's not." Providence admitted. "I am Providence, & Providence is myself—together, indissolubly as one, we stand through the ages; a fixed monument set eternally in the shadow of Durfee's ice-clad peak! This body is YOUR Howard…but I, the soul within that possesses it, am not your Howard."

"W…What?!"

"No way…" Lisa gasped. "You're…H.P. Lovecraft!"

"In this universe, he was just a harmless fiction writer. With a…troubled life." Lovecraft stated. "But where I am from, I was a different man. Very different. I am a distant descendant of the Great Old Ones. I survived my universe's destruction by becoming a spirit, and by crossing the dimensional plane, I was able to possess the corpse of my alternate self. How I am able to do that is simple: I am my universe's Ultimate. So I am key to Azathoth's plans. It is highly important that they do not obtain me as the living key to free Cthulhu…"

"And yet, here you are." The Warrior said. "The one born from a hellish and nameless tragedy. Your ancestor, Llunway of Wales, was a bastard child. The Primal Chaos will reward me greatly for bringing you in through this trap. Yet out of two Ultimates, we require only one."

"Our universe's Ultimate is gone." Lucy replied.

"Or so you believe…" The Warrior laughed. "Come, mortals! Shangri-La has fallen! YOU are next!"

The Warrior lunged with a shrill and demonic screaming cry, swinging and slamming his purple fiery staff all over the place! He extended it to great lengths and slammed it down, with Maximum Darkness dodging it. The Cyber Shinobi rushed at The Warrior, leaping with a cartwheel to dodge a 360 staff spin and countering with a kick that sent the Warrior into the air! He transformed into a bird to recover, flying back and changing into a tiger!

"Agh! Bad kitty! Down! Down, boy!"

He kicked the face as he held the jaw back, but the Warrior transformed into an ox to push him forward, sending him towards a spiked wall! Lucy quickly flew over and slammed herself against the ox, grabbing it by the horns and throwing it into the air, with her daughter flying after it and knocking it into the spiked wall!

From the cloud of darkness that exploded forth, the Warrior roared and lunged forward, Cory matching his prowess against its martial arts. Corrupted shaolin strikes were nothing to a tactical brawling detective who knew where, how, and when to strike precisely.

Distract target. Block blind jab. Counter with cross to left cheek. Employ elbow block to wild haymaker and body shot. Strike at armor joints, then ribs, then jaw. Finish with heel kick to diaphragm.

"AUGH!"

The Warrior fell back to the ground…and vanished.

A copy!

Cory backflipped to dodge a leaping ambush strike from a dark cloud, the Warrior slamming his staff to the ground. He conjured forth a staff to equally match the Warrior, jumping over him to dodge a tail strike.

Whether one on one or all at once, the Warrior fought like a million men rolled into one. But Max noticed something. He was reading their moves. Predicting what they would do.

"I've got an idea!" She informed Maximum Darkness within her head. "Be unpredictable!"

"Heh. Finally, about time I fight crazy with crazy…"

The Shadow Demon charged forth, readying a right hook, the Warrior already in motiong to block it. And then, Maximum Darkness struck a blow with her left fist instead! This was enough to stagger the Warrior!

"Argh! Curse this fleshy body!"

He attacked again and again, but Maximum Darkness kept him guessing and always did the unexpected. She even messed with his senses, attacking from one direction when it only looked like she was striking from another! And whenever the Warrior thought he saw right through a trick…she just did a new one.

And finally, with a strike even so many eyes couldn't see coming, Maximum Darkness sent the Warrior crashing to the ground, his helmet knocked off and rolling to a halt on the ground.

"Game over, you final boss wannabe." Maximum Darkness chuckled, walking over to grab the Warrior's neck and prepare to deal the killing blow…

"No, wait, his eyes! Don't look into his eyes!"

Too late. Lovecraft's warning reached her when she saw that hideous deformed face. One picosecond of gazing into those eyes was all it took for the Warrior to vanish…and blackness to consume her sight.

"What the hell?!"

Maximum Darkness looked around in confusion, with Max herself in unease.

"Mom? Mother? Where are you?! W-What's going on?!"

And suddenly, a bunch of distorted mass of flesh emerged and giant eyes and jaws opened wide, surrounding Maximum Darkness on all sides. The voices chanted and the visions flashed before her eyes again…

"Ymg' ah ot? F' kadishtu ahf' ah nog. F' ymg' kadishtu ephaiah h'."

"Herald? Me? Ha! Why would I be the herald of this so-called swarm?!"

Max Dark froze at that. She…She understood that…

"Ymg' ephaitharanak mgehye'lloig. Ymg' ah ehye."

"One? WHAT one?"

"You…You can understand that…THING?!" Max asked in shock. "Hold on…I'm not going crazy! I'm seeing some kind of insane eldritch being with my own eyes…and I'm not losing my marbles! I'm still perfectly sane! How?! WHY?!"

"To be honest, Maxie…I have no freaking idea…"

Well…at least she was watching her language around a kid…

Suddenly, a flashing jumpscare of a vision startled Max back into reality! Maximum Darkness, unfazed, only shook her head.

"Agh, stupid headache…" Maximum Darkness groaned before letting Max take over.

"Uhhhh….are you okay, Max?" Mark asked.

"I…I don't know." She stated. "I ended up seeing these super hideous and chaotic distorted faces…and I didn't go cuckoo crazy! And somehow…I could UNDERSTAND that super creepy ancient language!"

"What?!" Lovecraft asked. "Those who gaze upon the true form of an Outer God and a Great Old One go mad! And it's impossible for a human tongue to speak R'lyehian!"

"Except she's NOT a human." Van Helsing reminded him. "Max here is a monster. Given how she's the daughter of a half-monster and half-demon hybrid, someone with the blood of both Dracula and Satan, I'm honestly almost not surprised by this."

"Yet I have the feeling that this can only lead to something even worse." Sasquatch adds. "But we'll have to worry about that later. Hopefully we can re-strengthen the barrier in the Mystic Realm with this Ancient Arcana. It should be down in this vault."

It wouldn't take long for the team to find the ancient glowing blue primordial energy. But ever since seeing madness itself, Max felt as if she was starting to feel a bit…off…