At Prodigium's Paris headquarters, the general alert had just been raised as the immense and supernatural sandstorm had appeared out of nowhere and began to gradually invade the French capital. The television screens broadcast the images filmed live by the various television teams scattered throughout the city and who, despite the chaos and danger, managed to take images. On the banks of the Seine, a boat had just been attacked by a strange amphibian humanoid creature. Perched on one of the gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral, a female vampire could be observed. Near the Arc de Triomphe and terrorizing passers-by, a werewolf was observed, accompanied by a man covered in bandages and a little girl with a cadaverous appearance. In front of the Eiffel Tower, which had become the epicenter of the storm, Ahmanet could be observed, surrounded by her legions of undead to whom she gave her orders, sending them spreading throughout the city and sowing maximum chaos and terror in the hearts of humans. Ahmanet then sensed that she was being filmed, glared furiously at the camera and with a shrill roar summoned a torrent of sand that slammed towards the lens, cutting the transmission as the cameraman's screams were briefly heard.

From his office, Henry Jekyll had been able to watch everything on television, looking serious and silent. He had of course recognized Ahmanet, but also the other monsters who were currently terrorizing the city. Lawrence the Werewolf. Marya the Vampire. Jack the Invisible Man. Frankenstein. The Creature from the Black Lagoon. All these monsters were listed in the organization's archived files and which had since been sought. His attention then turned to the large bay window behind his desk which offered an overview of the city of Paris, which ordinarily might seem splendid but which now presented a terrifying vision, the immense clouds of sand rising as high as mountains and inevitably continuing to engulf buildings and streets.

_"Here we are... it's the end..." he breathed darkly, looking serious.

Sandra Winters came rushing into the office and headed towards him.

_"Sir, the storm is approaching faster than expected. The teams have prepared everything according to your instructions, we must evacuate now!"

Henry agreed without saying a word, but as he began to follow Sandra, the bay window shattered following a sudden violent gust of wind and sand, almost like an ocean wave crashing into a cliff. The shock wave threw Jekyll and Winters to the ground, who, half stunned and blinded, nevertheless managed to quickly regain their senses and noticed what was happening. The desk and other furniture had been completely knocked over and sent several meters into the air. Just in front of the destroyed bay window, the sand that made up the imposing tornado gradually took the shape of a giant face, that of Ahmanet, who emitted a powerful and threatening roar towards the two humans as she looked on them.

_"Prodigium..." then growled the resonant and monstrous voice of Ahmanet who spoke through the storm. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

The voice of the princess crushed them with its power and the dark aura it gave off. Jekyll had to very strongly restrain Hyde's mind, which inside seemed to be in ecstasy with all this darkness.

_"Ahmanet..." he then said. "What's going on? Where is Mathias Parrish?!"

_"You dare to ask where he is, after what you did to him?" replied Ahmanet furiously. "You killed him, or rather, you sent your filthy assassins, like the coward that you are!"

This revelation was a shock to Jekyll, as was Winters. Mathias was dead?!

_"Ahmanet, I am very sorry for you, but I assure you that I never ordered such a thing." Jekyll tried to explain in an attempt to appease the princess's fury.

_"LIAR!" roared Ahmanet, whose giant sand face suddenly approached, making the doctor take a step back. "You're hoping to fool me with your pathetic excuses! Mathias was a unique soul and you hunted him down and killed him like an animal!"

_"Ahmanet, listen to me, I assure you that..." Jekyll tried again to show good faith.

_"SILENCE!" Ahmanet then proclaimed ferociously. "I'm done with your trickery, human. I've waited long enough. I lost my Setepai a long time ago, and now, as fate had finally brought us together, humanity has took everything again from me. Mathias was the only reason that justified the continued existence of the human race on this world. I gave him my heart, I was ready to give up my power for him... But from now on, all humanity will pay the price of my suffering! For having murdered my beloved, I will tear away everything that is dear to you, I will destroy everything that you have built, and from humanity's ashes will rise my new world! No negotiation, no surrender will be accepted... You had your chance."

With these sharp and indisputable words, the giant face of Ahmanet dissipated and became one with the sandstorm which then doubled in power and continued to gradually devastate the facade of the building.

_"Move! Let's get out of here!" then gasped Jekyll, who with Winters ran as quickly as possible out of the office, pursued by the devouring and destructive gusts of sand.

Ahmanet's sandstorm shattered windows and walls, gradually invading the corridors of Prodigium headquarters, devastating everything in its path and swallowing several members of the organization in its deadly waves.

*************

Meanwhile, at the Mirand mansion, Mathias had continued to helplessly witness the surge of rage and killing that Ahmanet had unleashed on Paris and already hundreds and hundreds of innocent people had found death in the deadly sands of the storm or at the hands of the hordes of undead which spread through the streets like a ravaging virus, each victim adding an additional soldier in the army of the cursed princess. A tear falling from his eye, Mathias then looked at Jonathan with absolute contempt.

_"Is this the new world you want to live in?" said the young man. "A dead and devastated world? Are you happy to see all these people dying before your eyes?"

_"Once again your narrow vision misleads you, my poor Parrish." whispered Jonathan with great confidence. "On the contrary, they are now freed from the grip of death. By transforming them, Ahmanet thus grants them the gift of immortality, that which humanity, in its deepest and secret desires, always seeks to achieve, no matter the means! I have waited for this moment all my life, and finally, it will come true!"

_"You're a loony..." was the only thing Mathias could say, annoyed and seeing that he couldn't reason with a fanatic like Jonathan.

Disgusted to the highest degree by the billionaire's mentality, Mathias spat in his face and immediately one of the bodyguards who held Mathias punched him violently in the stomach. The young man winced in pain, gasping for breath as he was held by the arms. Jonathan wiped his cheek with a smirk, deciding to ignore this lack of respect towards him and with a snap of his fingers, ordered his guards to bring Mathias towards the reception room. From the top of the stairs, Jonathan asked for the music to stop and for the attention of all the guests, who turned towards him and remained silent.

_"Brothers! Sisters! Children of Ra!" he proclaimed with frightening enthusiasm. "The wait was long, several generations of our people gave their lives to keep the reason for this order alive, and finally, the gods answered our prayers! Their messenger returned, ready to announce the return of his masters and establish the birth of the new world! But for this, the setepai must return to his princess. His sacrifice will allow our ascension as a chosen people and freed from the yoke of death, and for that, we thank him !"

The ball guests then applauded the speech and also thanked Mathias by looking at him and applauding him. Mathias was speechless as he was so desperate about the situation but also furious towards this sect of psychopaths who were delighted to see the city and its inhabitants being destroyed by the fury of Ahmanet and the monsters. The ground shook again and so, through the windows, people could see that the sandstorm continued to spread and engulf the districts of the capital one after the other, even going so far as to obscure the sun.

Suddenly, flying torrents of sand came to surround the mansion, hitting and breaking the window panes of the reception room and beginning to invade everything, causing surprise but also shock to the guests. The wave was so strong that everyone was thrown to the ground, including Mathias and Jonathan. Then, from the broken windows, civilians, now transformed into desiccated undead, leapt from outside, gradually invading the reception hall and beginning to attack the guests with bestial rage. A man was pinned to the ground by a creature and savagely bitten on the throat in front of his wife, who was not even horrified but on the contrary seemed to rejoice and started laughing with enthusiasm.

Getting up and regaining his senses, Mathias noted with horror the carnage that had just begun in the ballroom, the undead of Ahmanet throwing themselves on everyone, biting and tearing them with incredible violence in a bath of blood. Pieces of flesh were torn off, limbs torn off, hearts punctured with bare hands... But what shocked Mathias the most was the behavior of the cult members. They were not terrified and did not even try to flee, quite the opposite, they seemed more than happy and willingly let themselves be caught and devoured by the creatures. Some even knelt down, spreading their arms, deliberately offering themselves to the jaws of the undead who came to cover them and tear them to pieces. These people were so crazy and indoctrinated in their ideals that by allowing themselves to be devoured alive, they would be freed from death and become new gods, as their so-called prophecy said...

However, Mathias saw Jonathan get up, and he seemed somewhat disconcerted by the events and seeing his precious sect being massacred.

_"But... what... No, there is a problem, it's much too early... Oh Princess Ahmanet, what are you doing?!" whispered the young billionaire, confused.

Mathias did not try to stay there any longer and took advantage of the general chaos to strike one of the guards near him, then pushed the other and began to flee down the stairs, all under the stunned gaze of Jonathan.

_"Catch him, you idiots!" Jonathan ordered his distraught guards.

Mathias ran as fast as possible, zigzagging between the tables of the reception room which had become a bloody banquet, all around him the undead continued tirelessly to devour the members of the sect, and already, the first victims having been partially devoured were agitated by spasms, their bones creaking, their veiled and glassy eyes opening and standing up in monstrous guttural moans, adding themselves to the ranks of the army of the dead and beginning in their turn to attack the living within their reach. The guards who began to pursue Mathias to try to catch up with him were, however, very quickly targeted by creatures who jumped on them and, being too numerous, took the upper hand and massacred the guards. Seeing this and noting that creatures were starting to run up the stairs to reach him, Jonathan decided to flee to the back of the mansion and managed to close the doors and block them.

As for Mathias, he tried to reach one of the broken windows to jump out and several times he had to dodge undead who tried to grab him. One of them jumped, roaring towards him, but Mathias had the reflex to duck in time and the undead violently hit a table which overturned. Noticing that around ten of these filth were pursuing him, Mathias accelerated his pace, almost feeling their bloody hands ready to grab him. Then, in a last effort, he jumped through the already broken window, still cutting his shoulder against a piece of broken glass, and rolled into the grass of the garden that surrounded the mansion. Mathia groaned, a sharp pain hitting him in the shoulder and having to extract a small piece of glass that had pierced his skin, making him bleed slightly.

Grimacing in pain from his shoulder injury, Mathias decided to ignore it and quickly started running again, the undead also starting to come out of the windows to try to catch up with him. Mathias managed to climb the gate surrounding the mansion and finally found himself in the street. But no time to breathe, he started running again, his heart beating and now heading towards the Eiffel Tower, where the heart of the sandstorm was, and therefore, his beloved.

_"Hold on, Ahmanet... I'm coming!" he whispered while running and praying that it wasn't too late for her.

But suddenly, an imposing, humanoid shape covered in fur appeared in front of him in the middle of the street. Mathias stopped short, not daring to move but quickly noticed that this bestial creature in front of him was not an undead but an enormous black werewolf, and to his knowledge, he only knew one.

_"L... Lawrence..." breathed Mathias.

The werewolf also seemed very surprised, even shocked, to see Mathias.

_"Mathias?... But... how is that possible... we thought you were dead!"

_"It would take too long to tell, believe me!" Mathias added urgently. "There is no time to lose, I must find Ahmanet and stop her from continuing this carnage!"

_"She's at the foot of the Eiffel Tower!" the werewolf explained to him, pointing him in the direction.

But suddenly, a horde of desiccated undead, once civilians, burst into the street, growling and rushing towards Mathias to tear him to pieces with their bare hands. Lawrence immediately grabbed the young man and put him on his back.

_"Hang on!" the werewolf roared as he began to lunge quickly and dramatically to get as far away as possible from the creatures chasing them. Mathias clung with all his might to the werewolf's shoulders. All that remained was to pray that there was still a chance to bring Ahmanet back into the light and prevent the apocalypse.

***********

Meanwhile, the devastation and vengeful curse of the Egyptian princess continued to spread like a tidal wave across the French capital. The Champs-Elysées, crowded with people as usual, was ravaged by torrents of sand and hordes of ferocious undead. The already great terror among the citizens was heightened at the sight of Ahmanet's giant face forming in the storm sand, uttering a deafening roar of rage.

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by the maelstrom of sand, Ahmanet stood straight, firm and somber, her face nothing but hatred mixed with sadness to see the tears flowing from her eyes. All around her lay the corpses of people killed by her legions of creatures. Looking up at the sky, clenching her fists and amplifying the power of her cursed storm even more, the princess spread her arms, once again invoking her necromantic power and bringing all these freshly dead bodies back to life, making them new troops for his army. Their bones creaking, emitting filthy guttural grunts from their mouths, the corpses stood up, under Ahmanet's gaze.

_"I will avenge you, my love." she whispered angrily, thinking with pain of Mathias. "Humanity deprived me of you, now they will feel the same pain as me."