"Ahhh..."
Negishi screamed in agony. As his life was consumed and absorbed by Raven's tentacles, his body visibly withered and shriveled.
Mishima was no exception. The Strongest Native Worm contained significantly more energy, and it took a few more seconds before he was completely devoured. His body subsequently dissolved into powder, utterly destroyed.
Outside the ZECT Headquarters building, Tendo and Kagami were working together to fight the transformed Tsurugi Kamishiro. Tsurugi, having fully accepted his Worm identity, had undoubtedly become the strongest Worm after Reiji Nogi's demise.
"Tsurugi, snap out of it! You weren't like this before!" Kagami was still desperately trying to appeal to him.
What he didn't realize was that the current Tsurugi was determined to die. He was leading the Worm army with the sole purpose of having them all annihilated here, fulfilling his wish to eliminate all Worms. Thus, in his fight against Tendo and Kagami, he was holding back, not using his poisonous tentacles for suppression.
Tendo seemed to sense this, understanding Tsurugi's true objective. He summoned the Hyper Zecter.
[HYPER CAST OFF!]
Kabuto instantly transformed into his Hyper Form and summoned the Perfect Zecter. The Zecters for Sasword, TheBee, and Drake automatically flew to it.
While Kagami was entangled with Tsurugi, Tendou switched the Perfect Zecter to Gun Mode and activated the finisher against the distant cluster of Worms.
"[Kabuto, Sasword, TheBee, Drake Power!]! [Zecter Union!]! [Maximum Hyper Cyclone]!"
In an instant, an overwhelmingly powerful, horrifying finisher was unleashed!
BOOM—!
The dense Worm army in the forefront was instantly incinerated by the blast. They were nearly wiped out in a single move. Only a small handful of Worms survived.
"Alright!" The Native Worm ZECTroopers cheered. With this, the Worms were effectively crippled. In truth, most Native Worms were not ambitious conquerors; they joined ZECT solely for self-preservation.
With the bulk of the Worm army annihilated by Tendo, only Tsurugi Kamishiro remained on the scene. All eyes were on him.
Yuzuki Misaki, watching from nearby, felt a rush of complex emotions. While she didn't like Tsurugi, she didn't hate him, either. She just hadn't expected him to be a Worm.
"What are you waiting for?" Tsurugi, intent on death, continued attacking Kagami and shouted at them.
Just then, Raven, who had finished off the major bosses, walked over from the distance, appearing before everyone.
"The Native Worm conspiracy and the Worm threat are completely over." Tsurugi, Tendo, and the others were momentarily stunned.
Raven tossed a necklace he was holding to Kagami.
"This is..." Kagami recognized it immediately. It was the necklace ZECT had recently distributed to detect Worms.
Raven spoke, "If these necklaces are worn for too long, they will convert humans into Native Worms."
"This was ZECT's conspiracy."
"You're lying! ZECT would never do such a thing!" Kagami flatly refused to believe it.
"He's right." At that moment, a deep, raspy voice sounded. Everyone looked over.
The speaker was Riku Kagami.
"Father?" Kagami looked at him in shock. Riku Kagami appeared battered and disheveled, clearly having endured some form of torture.
Not long ago, when Negishi's plan was implemented, Riku Kagami was discarded as a liability.
The Worms and Native Worms had been patiently enduring each other for decades. Decades ago, Riku Kagami and Tendo's father had already built a failsafe into the Kabuto and Gatack systems. This was to prevent the Native Worms from showing their true fangs against humanity after the Worm threat was eliminated. The failsafe was designed to make the out-of-control Kabuto and Gatack destroy all Native Worms.
The Native Worms, led by Negishi, had known this secret from the start. That was why they killed Tendo's parents and then mimicked them.
Today, everything was revealed.
Riku Kagami felt a surge of relief. The threat that weighed upon him was gone.
Just moments ago, after Raven killed Negishi and Mishima, he had rescued Riku Kagami, who had been imprisoned and abused.
Although the current situation was stable and neither the Worms nor the Native Worms could cause much trouble, a person in power was still needed to properly handle the aftermath. Riku Kagami was the most suitable candidate.
"How could this happen..." Having heard the truth about ZECT directly from his father, Kagami was dealt another severe blow. He realized that his actions over the past few days were pushing humanity toward destruction.
"So that's it…" Tendo nodded in understanding. He had always felt that something was off about ZECT, and that the Native Worms weren't as friendly as they seemed. Otherwise, his parents wouldn't have been killed.
However, while they were absorbed in their conversation, Tsurugi Kamishiro was completely frozen.
What in the world is going on? I finally managed to become evil so you guys could kill me. And now everyone stops?
"Tsurugi Kamishiro, you can choose to live." In Raven's view, the current Scorpion Worm was merely a body possessed by Tsurugi Kamishiro.
The Worm and Native Worm mimicry of humans was more like copying a soul into a host body. The outcome depended on whether the Worm soul or the human soul was stronger. Tsurugi was a successful example of a human soul hijacking a Worm, a form of resurrection.
"I said I will defeat all Worms... including myself." Tsurugi's eyes showed fierce determination. He rushed toward Raven without hesitation, attacking with all his might. He knew that only Raven could kill him without mercy.
"..."
With a sigh, Raven shook his head and reluctantly extended his hand.
The next second, the Scorpion Worm's body disintegrated, turning into scattered points of light.
Raven had offered him a way out. But unfortunately, Tsurugi Kamishiro would never accept living after being the one who killed his sister. Not unless he ceased to be Tsurugi Kamishiro.