captured by Ashtar. Ashtar then blasts Ryu with energy from his own sword; before Ashtar can finish off Ryu, Robert appears and shoots Ashtar in the back, stopping him. Robert orders Ashtar to hand over his sword and give up, but Ashtar escapes with Irene, telling Ryu to follow him into the Maze of Darkness. After Ashtar escapes into the Maze of Darkness, Robert tells Ryu about Ashtar's plot to take over the world by using the full power of his sword, the Dark Sword of Chaos. Robert implores Ryu to stop Ashtar before his Dark Sword reaches full power. After battling through the Maze of Darkness and into the World of Chaos, Ryu hears echoes of Ashtar's plan in the distance. Ryu then catches up with Ashtar. He releases Irene, but immediately after releasing her he stabs her with the Dark Sword. Robert then shows up, only to find out that Irene has been mortally wounded; Ashtar then blasts Robert with energy from his Dark Sword and then challenges Ryu to battle. Ryu defeats Ashtar, and before he dies, he says that the forces of Darkness will soon awaken and implores the forces of Chaos to engulf the world into darkness. While he is saying this, the Dark Sword of Chaos vanishes into thin air. After Ashtar's death, Irene tells Ryu that an evil altar that Ashtar prepared to open the Gate of Darkness must be destroyed. Ryu then leaves Irene behind and tells Robert to take her and leave the World of Chaos. As Ryu enters the World of Darkness to destroy the altar, Irene and Robert, while traveling back, are stopped by a shadowy figure that Irene has seen before. Meanwhile, after defeating Kelbeross whom he noted he fought in his fight against Jaquio (in the previous Ninja Gaiden game), Ryu finds Robert on the ground and mortally wounded. He tells Ryu that Irene has been captured again and that Ryu must prevent the Gate of Darkness from opening. Robert then tells Ryu to leave him behind while he fends off the demons. Ryu eventually makes it to the evil altar where he finds Irene and the shadowy figure who captured her; the figure reveals himself as Jaquio – the antagonist from the first Ninja Gaiden installment – who was reborn after his first battle with Ryu. Jaquio tells Ryu his master plan of using Ashtar as