---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
In the midst of despair, there must be hope.
The power of Ultraman King had clearly brought hope to the near-extinct Ultra race.
No, to be precise, it brought hope to the entire universe.
To sustain the energy of over eighteen billion Ultramen with his power alone, and not even with his main body—such combat strength could only be described as terrifying.
The body of an Ultraman has an extremely high demand for energy. Among the countless civilizations in the universe, even if they exhausted all their power, there were few that could sustain even a handful of Ultramen.
In Earth's history, there had been instances of Ultramen leaving because their energy was depleted and could not be replenished.
Yukino Yukinoshita: "No wonder he's called the King of Ultras. He seems so kind usually, but he's actually this terrifying. That kind of power can no longer be described as merely outrageous."
Ultraman Zero: "Holy crap, so the old man wasn't using his full strength when he beat me up back then. That Belial guy may be ugly, but his strength is just about good enough to trade a few blows with me. But the moment he saw the old man, he was so scared he lost his soul."
Galaxy Baseballer: "What an amazing old man. By the way… according to the light curtain, Grandpa Ultraman King is on the same level as an Aeon. In other words… Aeons can be that powerful too…"
Kafka, the Stellaron Hunter: "Baby, the true power of the Aeons has always been a mystery. Don't try to comprehend their great power. It's very dangerous. They are beings that even Elio cannot glimpse in the slightest."
---o---
Light Curtain
As Ultraman King sustained the entire Land of Light, the camera, following his final words, shifted its focus to Zero.
Blink~ Blink~
The Color Timer echoed solitarily in the cosmos. Although the rhythm was slow, it brought a sense of urgency to the audience.
"Where… is this place?"
In the vast, empty universe, there wasn't a single insect in sight.
Zero remembered being sucked into a black hole formed by the shockwave of his battle with the Star-Shattering Swarm King.
"The light in this universe can't give me any energy!"
Staring at the blazing red star before him, Zero's face was filled with distress.
When Ultramen traveled through the cosmos, they mostly relied on absorbing the light and heat energy emitted by stars to maintain their bodily functions.
But now… the giant ball of fire before him couldn't provide him with even a sliver of energy replenishment.
"No, I can't… I can't keep wasting energy here. At this rate, the energy in my body will be completely depleted."
With this thought, Ultraman Zero flew towards the nearest planet.
"BOOM!"
Zero landed on the ground, the massive impact kicking up dirt and dust, a landing so perfect that even Gaia, the master of landings, would call him a professional.
But even on the planet, Zero still couldn't get replenished.
He had consumed too much power in his fight against the Swarm King. Now, the energy left in his body was almost gone.
"If I run into that guy here, I'll be in big trouble…"
Recalling the appearance of the Star-Shattering Swarm King, Zero subconsciously clenched his fists. That creature's energy had no such restrictions.
An opponent he struggled to defeat at his peak was even more of a threat now. He had no desire to become fodder for the Swarm's propagation.
"ROAR—!!" "Wooo—!!"
As Zero was thinking, the cries of monsters suddenly reached his ears.
Of all times, monsters had to appear now, when his energy was gradually running out?
Zero stood up and looked at the several monsters before him. They weren't very strong; he wouldn't need beam techniques. He could take care of them with his physical skills alone.
"Hmph, trying to take advantage of me now that my energy is low? I won't let you get your way!!"
Zero shouted, striking Leo's most classic fighting pose, and charged toward the monsters.
Whip kicks, straight punches, uppercuts, side kicks—Zero, who had thoroughly mastered Leo's fighting techniques, was a joy to watch even from a distance.
In his fight with the Swarm King, he hadn't been able to showcase these skills due to the vast size difference.
But now, in a physical brawl with monsters while low on energy, his astonishing fighting skills were on full display without reservation.
"Wooo—" "Awooo—"
Before long, the four or five monsters were beaten to the ground, kneeling and begging Ultraman Zero for mercy.
"Hmph, you're quite intelligent, to even know how to beg for mercy."
Seeing the foolish appearance of these few monsters, Zero had no real intention of harming them. After all, they weren't particularly vicious beasts, merely following the laws of nature.
"Although you most likely don't know, I still have to ask: do you know how to leave this universe? Or… do you know how I can replenish this light energy inside my body?"
Sitting on a cliff, with several monsters kneeling at his feet, and with the fierce look on his face, Zero looked exactly like a delinquent youth, a gang leader.
Communicating with monsters… setting aside whether they could understand him, how could monsters who couldn't even leave their own planet possibly comprehend the concept of a universe?
Although Zero didn't hold out much hope, his energy was about to run out anyway. There was no harm in trying a desperate remedy.
"Roar roar…?"
"You're saying… you've met someone before who claimed to be a visitor from another universe?"
Understanding the little monster's words, Zero couldn't sit still. His desperate remedy had actually worked?
Leaping down from the cliff, Zero hurriedly asked, "Who is she? Where is she now?"
Someone claiming to be from another universe could certainly not be an insect. After all, even the most elite Swarm King lacked the ability for independent thought.
"Roar roar… awoo awoo…"
Seeing that the fearsome god before them intended to leave, the monster immediately began to describe the person's appearance to Zero.
"Gray hair, weird clothes, and less than two meters tall?"
Muttering the information given by the monster, Zero couldn't immediately figure out which planet this alien was from.
"Hmm, she can pull a stick out of thin air. That stick… cylindrical, but thicker at one end…"
"Wait, I remember Master Leo mentioning something like this. It seems to be an object from Earth. It should be called… a baseball bat?"
Zero tilted his head, his brain struggling to keep up. He had considered the possibility of some special alien.
But he never expected that the person would be a human from Earth!
That's right. Aside from the inexplicable description of pulling a stick out of thin air, the person's appearance was identical to the depictions of Earthlings in the Land of Light's textbooks and what Leo had described to him.
What human would travel across the universe to come here? Could it be they encountered some kind of spatial turbulence?
In any case, this planet wasn't safe. She was in great danger alone. And as I recall, becoming one with a human is a great way to conserve energy.
There were no other options for now. He could only take it one step at a time.
"Good job, little monster. You've done a great service. I'll reward you with some tasty treats next time we meet."
Zero soared into the sky, speaking to the monster below. He then turned into a meteor and shot off in the direction the monster had pointed.
"Roar roar…"
The little monster waved at the sky, as if saying goodbye to Zero, but its anxious expression told a different story.
Only someone fluent in monster language could understand what it was actually saying:
"Hey, hey, don't go! That female devil is a lunatic! She's already knocked out dozens of monsters with that bat! I barely managed to escape to here!!!"
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
Holding a baseball bat, and a human… could it be…
Elysia: "Kevin! It must be Kevin, right? Aiya, I never thought Kevin would dye his hair gray."
Mobius: "Elysia, use that foolish brain of yours. The monster said it was a woman. Is Kevin a woman?"
Su: "From a standpoint of universal reason, parallel universes exist in our world as well. Perhaps it is a female Kevin from a parallel world!"
Kevin: "...Su, stop fooling around with Elysia. That person can't be me. I am not a woman, and I would not dye my hair."
Kafka, the Stellaron Hunter: "This description, plus the earlier appearance of the Swarm King and Phantylia, could it be…"
March 7th: "No way, no way, no way! There's only one person we know who fits that description! Could such a coincidence really happen in the world?"
Galaxy Baseballer: "...Cool!"
---o---
Light Curtain
As the light curtain fiercely debated the identity of the woman described by the monster, the scene shifted to the mysterious woman herself.
She was a young woman with gray hair and golden eyes, dressed in stylish clothes that were completely out of place with her surroundings.
By human aesthetic standards, the girl before them could definitely be described as stunning.
Aside from her rather barren chest, every other part of her was exquisite.
And right now, a huge monster stood before the girl, a massive beast a full sixty meters tall.
The rock monster Sadora, one of the famous workhorses of the Ultra universe. Although not very strong, it was a monster that had once pushed an Ultra Warrior into a tough fight.
"Sigh, another one? How many is this now? We're about to break triple digits, aren't we?"
The massive monster was right in front of her, but the girl's golden pupils showed not a hint of fear. Instead, they were remarkably calm.
Perhaps it was her natural disposition. Although her tone was a bit impatient, the girl's expression didn't change in the slightest, as if her face was paralyzed.
"ROAR!!!"
Sensing the disdain from the tiny creature before it, Sadora let out a huge roar. Its claws shot out as if they had eaten a Gum-Gum Fruit, aiming for the girl's eyes.
"CLANG—!!!"
A crisp sound rang out. The expected bloody scene did not occur. Instead, an immense force was transmitted through Sadora's claws.
From the void, a baseball bat slowly materialized in the girl's hand. With sheer brute force, she had blocked Sadora's giant pincers.
The girl—no, it should be said, Stelle—her lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
And then…
"THWACK!!!"
The giant monster crashed to the ground. A large bump had grown on its head, one that looked like it wouldn't heal for several decades.
"Sigh~"
The girl named Stelle sighed, retracting the baseball bat, a hint of exhaustion in her eyes.
Two days… two whole days. Do you know how I've spent the last two days?
How many days has it even been since I was born, and you dump me on this planet for two whole days? How could you have the heart to throw a baby who isn't even one year old into a place like this!
Damn Amber King!! When I get back, I'm going to fleece you dry in the Simulated Universe!!
She thought angrily. If she were in her own universe, Stelle would never think this.
The power of the Aeons was mysterious and mighty; who knows, they might hear her badmouthing them. She had heard that the Aeon of [Elation] often sent people over to [The Nihility].
But this was another universe, a place the Aeons couldn't reach, so it didn't matter.
"Speaking of which, why did the Amber King choose me?"
Walking on a road made of rock, Stelle's heart was filled with confusion. Originally, meeting the Amber King was a happy occasion, but before she could say a word, she was knocked out and sent here.
Of course, it wasn't like he said nothing at all. The Amber King had at least given her a bit of a revelation.
Something like… "The universe is about to end and Nanook is still causing trouble behind the scenes. I'm sending you over to take care of the guy Nanook sent."
By the way, you're an Aeon yourself, can't you go on your own?
And a subordinate of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, sounds very dangerous. Although I am the esteemed Galaxy Baseballer, I was born less than a year ago. Do you have that much faith in me, Amber King…?
Resting her head on her hand, Stelle was clearly speechless. Was the Aeon of [Preservation] losing his touch? He didn't have a single person available under him? Where were the Emanators? Where was the Corporation? They talked about following the Amber King every day, but when it mattered, they were nowhere to be seen.
And how was the universe about to end? When the Amber King knocked her out, she vaguely saw a few other figures.
Those must have been other Aeons. She had seen a glimpse of them in the Simulated Universe. A disaster that could mobilize several Aeons at once… it seemed like nothing of that scale had ever happened in the cosmos before.
Although she was constantly complaining in her heart, Stelle was still genuinely concerned about the survival of the universe.
After all, if the universe was gone, then the Astral Express crew's "Trailblazing" would be nothing but empty talk. Besides, she was now technically "Trailblazing" another universe. When she got back and told March 7th and the others, they would surely be envious.
Hmm, I should take more pictures to show March 7th and Dan Heng…
Just as Stelle was thinking, in the distant sky, a streak of light flashed. The massive Giant of Light, Zero, landed squarely in front of her!