The battlefield stretched before us like a canvas of ruin.
I raised my staff, every rune igniting, every sigil thrumming with forbidden energy. The Overlord hovered beside me, darkness coiling around him like living armor. Behind us, my army—stone soldiers, gargoyles, Krakenskull's Krakenbeasts, Grimrock titans—waited only for my signal.
And then the First Spinjitzu Master appeared, radiant, terrifying, impossibly powerful.
His presence alone warped reality. Creation and destruction intertwined in his every movement. In his hands, one of the Fin Ninjutso scrolls—a cheat, if there ever was one. I felt a spike of irritation, but there was no time for it.
I tapped the ground with my staff.
"Awesome Annihilation!" I shouted.
A massive sphere of destructive magic erupted from me, lightning and fire intertwining into a blast so vast it should have leveled mountains. I followed it with the last of snow lightning, searing energy surging from my fingertips in frozen arcs.
The First Spinjitzu Master dodged, blocked, and twisted creation with destruction to absorb part of the blast, reforming the terrain as it cracked under the assault.
Not fair.
But that didn't matter. I had forbidden spells. Dark magic. Illusions that twisted perception. Lightning that could strike twice before the eye could track it. Fire that could burn the air itself.
I moved, my mind operating at centuries of Monstrox speed, weaving attack after attack. I summoned petrifying blasts, earthquakes to shatter his footing, waves of lava and stone from my army crashing down around him.
Stone Clay fought at my side with precise magical strikes, cutting through summoned defenders and fire barriers alike. Grimrock titans tore through constructs, Krakenskull's soldiers laid siege to every weak point, gargoyles harried him from the air.
And still… he held.
He summoned his dragon—a monstrous, ethereal beast of fire and shadow. The dragon tore through my army, flaring magic in waves that shredded stone and scorched earth alike. My forces roared, countering with everything we had, but it was a single-minded battle focused on him.
Hours passed—or felt like hours.
Exhaustion began to creep in. Not pain, not weakness—but the edge of overextension. Forbidden spells drained their reserves slowly, my dark magic responding to centuries of exertion with fatigue I hadn't felt in lifetimes.
Still, I struck again. Earthquake! The ground split beneath the First Spinjitzu Master, toppling him briefly.
Petrification! His body began to harden into stone—but he twisted it, creation and destruction fused to shatter the petrification and remake himself, a perfect counter.
Cheating.
But impressive.
I fired lightning and fire again. I layered illusions to confuse him. My army poured their strength into the assault. Stone Clay carved through constructs with magic and sword. Krakenskull's forces crushed the edges. And yet, still, he endured.
The dragon roared, knocking back my forces, focusing purely on survival.
The Overlord and I exchanged a glance. Both of us knew—neither could risk this anymore. Our powers were immense, but the First Spinjitzu Master was beyond calculation. Even a weakened Overlord could not withstand him alone, and together, we were reaching a point where failure was possible.
"Retreat," I said quietly.
The Overlord nodded. Darkness coalesced, forming shields around him as he pulled back. I raised my staff, chanting a massive explosive cover spell. A wave of energy erupted—a wall of fire, stone, and magic blasting outward—enough to mask our departure.
Behind the explosion, I opened a portal, twisting space and shadow. My army followed without hesitation. Stone Clay led the rear guard, Grimrock titans and gargoyles holding formation as the portal consumed the battlefield.
The last thing I saw before we vanished: the First Spinjitzu Master, dragon roaring, standing amidst broken earth and shattered magic—unbowed, unbroken, and still terrifying.
Then we were gone.
The portal closed.
We had survived.
But the war was far from over.
And Ninjago had just witnessed the full might of darkness and forbidden magic united.