Chapter 323: Chapter 323: The Mask Torn from the Face
"From the fact that this dark space still exists, we can infer that he is not dead," Robert explained gently, shaking his head as he saw Tony Stark's confusion. "However, his recovery speed is much slower than yours."
"Of course, you now possess demon lord-level combat abilities, but unfortunately, the recovery abilities of such beings are generally terrifying, making them hard to kill."
"Especially those whose powers come from other dimensions. Without absolute power to suppress them, these beings are practically immortal. Even if you can defeat them with your mecha, completely killing them is still difficult unless your mecha can also regenerate..."
Before Tony could respond to Robert's remarks, the dark space underwent another change. The once stable darkness began to dissipate, and inexplicably, light appeared in this realm where no light should exist.
As the dark space faded, Tony, even with his vision, could see a shadow that seemed to be fleeing with the disappearance of the dark space.
"He's trying to escape!" Tony quickly pointed in the direction of the shadow.
"Don't worry, he won't get far," Robert said with a chuckle. Before he could finish, a loud crash resounded.
"Bang!" The ground trembled visibly, and the fleeing shadow was distorted as if it was made of putty, despite appearing gaseous.
"What is that?" Tony was baffled. It seemed that there was nothing there to obstruct the shadow.
"Telekinesis. Invisible, but tangible," Robert briefly explained. Previously, Robert's use of telekinesis to block high-level demons was impressive, but now, he could trap a demon lord-level opponent with it.
"Telekinesis? Psychic power?" Tony was taken aback, eyeing Robert skeptically. This was his first encounter with Robert's capabilities in this regard.
"Previously, it was your home field, but now, it's my turn, isn't it? Why not try releasing your dark space again?" Robert did not wait for Tony's reaction but instead smiled mockingly at the deformed shadow of General Bart.
Now that Tony was out of combat capability, it was up to Robert to deal with General Bart. Tony's carefully crafted suit of armor was now utterly destroyed, hanging in tatters, making further combat impossible. Robert wondered how much money was lost with the destruction of the suit.
"You know so much about my power; have we dealt with each other before?" General Bart's form quickly reassembled, and he stared seriously at Robert. "Then you should know just how formidable my boss really is..."
"Your boss, huh? Honestly, I'm quite interested in meeting him. Can you contact him?" Robert looked at General Bart with a hint of anticipation. While General Bart's strength was not enough to excite Robert, the leader of the Dark Shadow Corps was another matter.
After encountering two of the masks, Robert had deduced that the standard mask's strength was at the demon lord level, but the corps' leader likely reached the hell lord level. Although it was unclear exactly what stage this hell lord was at, his power was not to be underestimated and was probably more formidable than the last incarnation of Mephisto.
Since Mephisto's schemes had yet to emerge and the Ghost Rider was undiscovered, finding the leader of the Dark Shadow Corps was a valuable opportunity.
Particularly since Robert felt that the corps' masks, clearly linked to the hell dimension and other dimensions, seemed different. Beings from other dimensions typically paid a heavy price to come to Earth and often had their powers weakened.
But the masks of the Dark Shadow Corps, though reliant on their dark dimension, seemed to have paid their dues and taken root on Earth without facing rejection from this dimension.
Tara: Do you know how hard I'm working to recover my power? And you think my powers aren't weakened?
"If you want to meet my boss, sure, let me go, and I'll lead the way," General Bart responded without hesitation, nodding and smiling invitingly at Robert.
"That's definitely not going to happen. After all, you're a demon, and demons have virtually zero credibility," Robert shrugged and laughed. He wouldn't release the telekinetic barrier; if he did, General Bart would certainly not lead him to his boss but would choose to escape instead.
Even though Robert was stronger, he couldn't ensure that General Bart wouldn't find a way to escape once the barrier was dropped.
Compared to other demons trapped in the telekinetic barrier, General Bart was relatively calm, knowing after one attempt that he couldn't break free.
"Bang!" Just as a thought crossed Robert's mind, a collision sounded from deep underground. It seemed General Bart wasn't as composed as he appeared.
"What was that noise?" Tony looked perplexedly at Robert. "Is there something exploding underground?"
"It's probably the shadow he summoned trying to find a way out..." Robert shrugged and spoke softly. "He
appears to be negotiating, but in reality, he's still trying to find a way to escape."
"Whoosh!" As Robert spoke, a flurry of dark shadow bats rushed towards Robert and Tony, with General Bart himself striking fiercely at Robert. He aimed to distract Robert while the bats captured Tony, hoping to threaten Robert or at least take a life in exchange for his temporary consciousness slumber.
As for death? General Bart wasn't afraid of it. His backing was the endlessly powerful dark dimension, so at most, his consciousness would fall into slumber—it was impossible to erase him completely!
"Shh!" As the shadow bats approached, Robert's aura exploded, instantly annihilating many of the bats, while Tony, enhanced by Robert's telekinesis, remained unharmed.
"Sir, a new suit of armor has been delivered, but it can't reach you..." Jarvis's voice reconnected with Tony.
Not far away, a suit of armor hovered, unable to reach Tony just as General Bart couldn't leave.
"Bang!" As Tony was about to respond to Jarvis, Robert's fist collided with General Bart's in a Goku-like stance. Robert hadn't used his full strength, but even so, dealing with General Bart was no problem for him now.
After the collision, General Bart's body was flung into the telekinetic barrier, violently deforming once more.
"Whoosh!" The next moment, a ki blast struck General Bart, the powerful destructive force instantly shattering his form, with the nearby ground trembling under its impact.
"It's useless! You can't kill me!" General Bart's shadow quickly reassembled, his voice crazed, "Behind me is the power of an entire dimension, I don't believe you can keep destroying my body indefinitely!"
"A whole dimension's power?" Tony frowned upon hearing General Bart's words. Though he didn't understand the full extent of the dimension's power mentioned by General Bart, he became vigilant, "Hell is a dimension, this dark power is another, how many dimensions are out there beyond Earth, and how many threaten Earth like this being?"
A sense of crisis emerged in Tony, not from cosmic threats but from the unknown dimensions...
"You don't think just because a dimension supports you, you're invincible, do you?" Robert looked at the reformed General Bart, a chill flashing in his eyes as he vanished from sight.
Seeing Robert disappear, General Bart felt a chill and instinctively tried to dodge, only to find himself suddenly immobilized!
"What have you done?!" General Bart's voice rang out in panic. He had just gained control of his current body, and now he felt it slipping away again, something he couldn't accept.
In reality, the mask was just a seal for General Bart; true freedom came either from having a host or completely reverting from the mask state to his original demonic form.
As he felt his body become uncontrollable, General Bart seemed to see his freedom slipping away...
"You're mistaken if you think you can't be killed!" As Robert reappeared in front of General Bart, a cold smirk on his lips, General Bart, still defiant, stared back gravely.
"Oh, is that so?" Robert sneered at the immobile General Bart, disdainfully remarking, "Then perhaps you don't understand yourself well enough..."
"What are you going to do?!" As Robert's words fell, he reached out and grabbed the mask from General Bart's face, causing him to cry out in terror.
Normally, or in a process familiar to ordinary people, removing a mask would require finding its weak point and creating a special magical potion.
Unfortunately, this wasn't purely the world of Jackie Chan Adventures, where characters like Batman and the Joker could easily remove Ikara masks and still use powers from the dark dimension...
While Robert wasn't the biggest "cheater" in this world, performing similar feats, especially with his knowledge of magical arts, wasn't too difficult.
"Rip!" In the next moment, Robert forcefully pulled the mask from Mobius's face, blood streaming down from the half-vampire visage, fangs bared. But Robert paid no heed to Mobius as he looked at the mask in his hand, a mocking tone in his voice, "Keep barking!"
Unlike the Ikara General's mask or Tara's, which could speak, General Bart's mask couldn't vocalize on its own.
However, Robert could sense a force invading his mind, even hearing faint voices, "Put me on! With me, you can control the power of the Dark Shadow Corps, gain the power of the dark dimension, even become the master of the dark dimension..."
"Heh," Robert scoffed at the mask in his hand, "You can't even become the master of the dark dimension yourself, and you're offering me such grand promises? No worries, in a moment, I'll show you what true darkness is..."
"Bang!" Before Robert could finish, Mobius, who had just begun to recover, crashed into the telekin
etic barrier, his body violently deforming, seemingly breaking many bones in a tense moment!
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