Kubo wasn’t sure how much time had passed. When he woke up, the courtyard was empty. The Sister’s broken mask was on the ground a few feet away. Then he spotted Beetle’s broken bow. It was sitting next to the monkey charm, which had cracked into two pieces.

Kubo knelt there, his shamisen in his hands, two of its strings broken and frayed. Tears fell from his eye onto the remaining string, sounding a sad, sorrowful note. Behind him, the paper rose up and folded itself. Little Hanzo was still with him. He looked tattered and dirty, but he was there.

The tiny paper warrior crawled forward, pointing his sword at something on the far wall. Kubo finally turned, noticing a drawing of the Helmet Invulnerable. He tilted his head to the side, seeing what Little Hanzo was looking at. From such a long angle, the Helmet Invulnerable looked exactly like one of the bells in the village bell tower.

Kubo kept staring at it, realizing what this meant. The last piece of armor was still waiting for him. He could still defeat the Moon King as long as he was brave enough to go find it.

He packed up his bag, putting Little Hanzo and the monkey charm inside. Then he picked up Beetle’s bow. He pulled off the bow string, and wrapped it around his wrist, making a bracelet like the one he had of his mother’s hair. He stood in the middle of the courtyard with his shamisen in his hands.

The tattered banners that hung on the walls flapped in the wind. Kubo lifted his bachi. Then he looked at the sky and played the last note, striking the shamisen so hard the final string snapped in two.

The banners flew up into the air, breaking free from their mounts. Then they folded and reformed above him, turning into a beautiful pair of wings. They joined the back of his robe and lifted him high above the crumbling fortress. He watched as it grew so small below him, finally disappearing against the mountains.

Kubo’s new wings flew him high above the village. From there, he could see the charred ruins of the stores and cafes and the crater that had once been the square where he’d performed. He landed just steps from the broken bell tower. It was still standing, the last bricks looking dangerously close to crumbling.

Kubo stared at the burnt scaffolding that surrounded the bell. There was so little time—the Moon King was coming for him soon. He pushed the weakened structure, then slashed at it with the Sword Unbreakable. Within minutes it came tumbling down, the Helmet Invulnerable glinting in the wreckage.

He picked it up and dusted it off. Then he heard a small voice from somewhere behind him. “Kubo, is that you?”

He turned to see his friend Kameyo. Her face was covered with soot. She peered at him from the doorway of a ruined house. Behind her he saw Hosato and Mari, two of the other villagers he’d known so well.

“You have to leave this place,” Kubo called out. “The Moon King, he is coming.”

He watched as the villagers hurried off, never feeling more alone in his life. When he was sure they were safe, he put the Helmet Invulnerable on and turned to the sky. “Grandfather! It’s me, Kubo!” he yelled. “I know you can see me!”

For a moment the village was silent. Kubo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as though he was suddenly in danger. He spun around to see the blind old man from his dream. Only now the man was wearing elegant robes that glowed in the moonlight. He stared at him, his eyes white with cataracts.

“Hello, Grandson,” the man said. “You have found the armor. Seems your mother had a reason to bring you to this dreadful place after all.”

Terrified, Kubo snatched a rock from the ground and threw it at the old man. But the man’s hand shot up, catching it in his palm. “I see,” he said.

“I know you do,” Kubo said. “That’s how this all began. You finally saw me. That was my fault. I should have listened to my mother.”

“Kubo,” the old man said as he strode forward. “We both want the exact same thing.”

“You want my other eye, that’s what you want,” Kubo shot back.

“As long as you cling to that silly, useless eye, you can’t come live with me in the heavens.” The old man stepped closer. “You’ll be stuck down here in this hell. Staring with that lonely eye at hate and heartache and suffering and death. Where I want to take you, we have none of those things. It will just be you with your family.”

“My family is gone,” Kubo said, staring at him. “You killed them.”

“They brought their fates upon themselves,” his grandfather said. “They disgraced me and upset the order of everything.”

“That’s how your story goes.”

“Oh, Kubo,” his grandfather said. “When you’re up there with me, you will be beyond stories. You will be immortal. You will be… infinite.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Kubo snapped. “Not infinite. All stories have an end… and this story ends when I kill you.”

He held the Sword Unbreakable in front of him, watching as the Moon King’s skin began to change. It took on a ghostly white glow, then became more wrinkled and hard-looking, as though it were a terrible shell.

“Oh, very well,” his grandfather replied. “Is this what you want? To do battle with the hideous monster who ruined your life? To prove your worth like your doomed father? How mortal.”

At that, his grandfather threw open his arms, and his body cracked in half. From it emerged a giant white monster, several stories tall, with hideous fangs and a long, spiky tail. It looked like something between a shark and a snake, slithering through the air. Kubo held up the Sword Unbreakable and ran at it, trying to land the first blow.

The beast stalked forward, snapping at him. Kubo flipped over its side, dragging the Sword Unbreakable along the beast’s body. But when the Sword Unbreakable touched it, it sparked as if the monster’s skin were made of metal. Still, the beast stumbled back, surprised by the attack.

Kubo stepped forward, swinging the Sword Unbreakable again and again, which pushed the monster farther back. As soon as Kubo had the advantage, he lunged at it, jabbing the Sword Unbreakable into the monster’s eye. It swung its tail around, knocking over a charred building behind it.

The giant beast was furious. It charged Kubo, but he was too quick. He spun around, jumping through a nearby window, and darted out the other side of the building. The beast kept after him, chasing him through the narrow streets of the village. Kubo ducked and weaved to avoid the monster’s blows, occasionally landing the Sword Unbreakable in its side. He ran as fast as he could, but as he approached the edge of the village, he struggled to catch his breath.

Exhausted, Kubo tripped over some rubble in the street. As soon as he fell, the beast was upon him. Its jaws locked down around his body. The armor buckled under the pressure, and Kubo fell from beneath the Breastplate Impenetrable, where he crashed through a broken wall. Slowly, he stood in front of the monster, bruised and bloody, his heart exposed.

The creature snapped its tail like a whip, the end curling around Kubo. The spiky end flipped the Helmet Invulnerable off his head. Big globs of spit flew at Kubo’s face as it bellowed. “You want to be human? Then share their weakness!”

The tail coiled tighter, squeezing Kubo to death. He gasped for air, his face turning blood red.

“Suffer their humiliation!” the beast went on. Its spiky tail ripped Kubo’s eye patch off his face. “Feel their pain!”

The beast slammed Kubo onto the ground. Kubo could see the Sword Unbreakable just a few feet away. He crawled toward it, knowing it was his last chance, but it was already too late. With a flick of its tail, the monster grabbed Kubo and sent Kubo careening into the cemetery.