---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
The Galaxy Baseballer… for some reason, this seemingly indifferent girl has a bit too much going on in her head…
Could this be the legendary mènsāo?
In any case, the newly introduced character seems to come from the same universe as Phantylia. From what we've seen so far, her abilities aren't as bizarre as Phantylia's.
Moreover, her personality is leagues above Phantylia's. Add to that her cool, slightly trashy demeanor, and she has certainly captured the affection of many gentlemen right from her debut.
March 7th: "Waaaah, it really is Stelle! To think she's still thinking about us on the Express Crew over there. I'll miss you always!"
Pom-Pom, the Conductor: "Well… well done, Pom! Passenger Stelle, your Trailblazing holds epoch-making significance for us on the Astral Express! The Astral Express will surely remember you, Pom!"
Galaxy Baseballer: "Um… I'm not dead yet, but why does it feel like I am?"
Kafka, the Stellaron Hunter: "Baby, I didn't expect the Amber King to take notice of you. Now that you're in another universe, you must take good care of yourself, understand?"
Galaxy Baseballer: "Mom—ah, no, Kafka, how come you too…"
Zero: "Hmph, Stelle, is it? A visitor from another universe? This young master has remembered your name…"
---o---
Light Curtain
The giant of light landed in front of Stelle, causing the young woman to look up at Zero.
A sense of danger welled up in Stelle's heart. Unlike the cannon fodder monsters from before, this giant before her had real power.
"Swoosh—"
From the void, the baseball bat appeared once again as Stelle assumed a defensive stance.
A fifty-meter-tall giant stood before her, radiating such dense power that a sense of danger couldn't help but rise in Stelle's heart.
Her opponent's strength was immense; he was the most powerful enemy she had encountered so far.
Although this giant carried a power of light, light was ultimately just a form of energy and didn't necessarily represent righteousness or evil.
Zero, for his part, let his guard down, instead looking at the bat in Stelle's hand.
"Oh? So that's a baseball bat! This is the first time I've seen one…"
Pointing at the bat in Stelle's hand, Zero was clearly curious. Under Leo's tutelage on Planet K76, he had developed a strong interest in Earth.
He was naturally curious about a sport that was extremely popular in Japan.
"It… it talks?"
Stelle was a little surprised. Since arriving in this universe, she had never seen a creature that could speak, though she had only been here for two days herself.
"You are…?"
Seemingly because the giant before her could communicate, Stelle asked tentatively, trying to gather information about him.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. This young master's name is Zero, Ultraman Zero. I'm an Ultra Warrior from the Land of Light in Nebula M78. By the way, my father is Seven, who was once active on your Earth."
His words were filled with a sense of pride. It was clear that the current Zero, after his reform through labor, strongly identified with his status as an Ultra Warrior.
Not only that, but he was also beginning to understand his father; otherwise, he wouldn't be mentioning Seven so casually.
However, it was obvious that this string of introductions did not help Stelle understand his words. Instead, the various unfamiliar nouns only confused her further, and a look of incomprehension appeared on her face.
"Nebula M78? Ultra Warrior? Never heard of them. Who is Seven? Is he famous?"
"Eh?"
Zero looked surprised. "You've never heard of him? Aren't you from the same universe as me?"
"I am indeed from another universe."
Putting away her baseball bat, Stelle temporarily confirmed that the giant before her had no hostile intent. She spread her hands and said:
"But it's clear the universes we're talking about are not the same one."
And so, after several hours of conversation, the two managed to sort out the current situation.
"So you're saying… this is a parallel universe to your universe. In other words… did the Amber King send me to the wrong place?"
On the barren wasteland, Stelle's fists clenched. The Amber King knocked her out and sent her here to save the universe without her consent, and to top it all off, he sent her to the wrong place.
Was the Aeon of Preservation going senile? Why did he have to torment a helpless, ordinary person like her?
Forget it. I can't beat him anyway, so I won't hold it against an Aeon.
Stelle's gaze returned to Zero. "So, you need to possess me to conserve energy?"
Crossing her arms, Stelle looked at Zero with displeasure. After all, the word "possession" sounded very sinister.
Zero held his head, exasperated. "I've already told you several times, becoming one mind and one body isn't possession. Under normal circumstances, you are the one in control of the body. Only when transforming into an Ultraman will I take over."
The more they talked, the more Zero realized how difficult this girl was. She looked so cool and cute, but was she actually a chatterbox?
"I refuse. My mom taught me not to easily trust strangers, especially a drifter like you."
With her arms crossed, Stelle looked up at Zero's face, which was now right in front of hers, and rejected his proposal.
She already had one incredibly dangerous thing inside her body. Adding another being who could go toe-to-toe with an Emanator… the image was just too ridiculous to contemplate.
Besides, the Zero of now wasn't a particularly trustworthy guy. It was only natural to maintain a basic level of vigilance when out and about.
"Damn it, still can't get through to her?"
Seeing Stelle's refusal, Zero was clearly at a loss. As he recalled, Ultra Warriors weren't supposed to force humans.
But she doesn't seem to be human, so forcing the issue should be okay, right?
A dangerous thought surfaced in his mind, but Zero quickly shook his head violently.
No, no, no. I am a warrior of the Land of Light now. If word got out, my, Ultraman Zero's, reputation would be ruined. Besides, neither Master Leo nor my father would approve of me doing that.
"Fine, if you're so insistent, I won't force you…"
Zero sighed, about to give up. But just then… the unexpected happened.
"BOOM—!!!"
The sudden arrival of an enemy cut Zero off mid-sentence.
"What was that? A monster? Or…"
Shielding Stelle behind him, Zero immediately looked toward the source of the sound. A figure with an overwhelming presence appeared before Zero and Stelle.
"Ze… tton…!"
A deep voice, as if coming from the endless starry sky, echoed, profound and oppressive.
Space Dinosaur Zetton? Why is it here? The moment he heard the sound, Zero identified the newcomer.
Zetton was an opponent that even his Uncle Ultraman had struggled against and failed to defeat. Its reputation in the universe was by no means small.
However, despite that, to Zero, Zetton was just an ordinary monster. Just because the first Ultraman couldn't beat it didn't mean he couldn't.
Even with his Color Timer flashing red, this dinosaur would still be no match for him… match for…
The smoke cleared, and Zetton's form was revealed to Zero. However, its appearance was completely different from the one in his memory.
Its face was unchanged, but its body was a size larger, standing a full sixty-six meters tall, making even Zero look a bit short.
The carapace on its back seemed to have evolved, looking incredibly domineering—a feature not present in ordinary Zettons.
A dangerous aura emanated from it, causing even Ultraman Zero to take a second look.
"This feeling… is this an evolved form of Zetton?"
EX Zetton. The appearance of such a monster, which almost never existed in the wild, was telling enough.
"Hmph, am I being targeted? Are there other enemies besides the insects? It'll take you another twenty thousand years to try and take me out with a weapon like this!"
Zero wiped his nose, his body naturally falling into a fighting stance. Using beam techniques against a Zetton was undoubtedly foolish, not to mention he was severely low on energy.
"Ze… tton…"
Raising its hands, EX Zetton quickly charged toward Zero.
"RUMBLE—"
Unlike the fodder from before, this Zetton, as an artificially cultivated monster, was exceptionally strong. Even Zero at his peak would have to put in some effort to defeat it.
Zetton slammed him violently against a cliff, Zero's feet carving trenches several meters deep into the ground.
Then, with a single blow, Zetton sent Zero flying. The continuous battles were draining Zero's stamina and energy.
In a way, he was already at the end of his rope, no match for this Zetton.
"Damn it!" Cursing, Zero tried to stand up but struggled to maintain his balance.
Even among EX Zettons, this one was an elite among elites. It would probably take at least three or four Ultra Brothers to barely suppress it.
"Not good, my body… is reaching its limit."
Zero knelt on one knee, clearly unwilling to give up.
First, he fought Leo, which cost some stamina. Then he flew from Planet K76 to Earth to fight the Swarm King and a horde of insects. And now, he was fighting an EX Zetton. Such high-intensity combat would be difficult for any Ultraman to sustain.
"Ze… tton…"
The emotionless voice sounded from EX Zetton's mouth. Surprisingly, it seemed to have no interest in Zero.
It simply knocked him aside and ignored him, instead looking cautiously at Stelle on the cliff.
"Um… do we know each other?"
Pointing a finger at herself, Stelle was baffled. Judging by its strength, she couldn't beat the near-death Zero next to her, and Zetton could. By transitive property, she was no match for the monster before her.
But just to be safe, Stelle still summoned her baseball bat from the void to prevent Zetton from making a move.
Yet it was at that very moment, the moment Stelle took out her baseball bat, that Zetton suddenly seemed to lose control, firing a One Trillion Degree Fireball at the cliff where she stood.
The massive fireball instantly condensed from the yellow organ on Zetton's face and shot directly at Stelle.
This thing has intelligence? No… not just intelligence. It was trying to confirm something just now. It didn't come for Zero, it came for me!
Stelle's mind raced, a strong sense of crisis enveloping her. She seemed to freeze, staring blankly at the fireball before her.
A One Trillion Degree Fireball. This was a crimson fireball with a super-high temperature of one trillion degrees. Even an Ultraman would likely be severely injured if they took a direct hit.
Stelle was strong, but she was less than a year old. And she wasn't an Emanator or some powerful follower of a Path. She was fine against ordinary monsters, but faced with an EX Zetton that even Zero struggled against, she fell short.
This monster had only attacked when she revealed her bat. With its power, it couldn't possibly be afraid of a simple bat.
In other words, this creature… attacked because it saw the power Stelle was using. And that power was… the power of a Path!
"BOOM—!!!"
The One Trillion Degree Fireball slammed squarely into Ultraman Zero's back, sending up a shower of intense sparks, like a welder working on steel.
"Ze… Zero?"
Stelle's eyes widened as she looked at Zero, who had taken the hit for her. A mix of feelings churned within her. After all, she had just rejected his request.
"Roar…?"
On the other side, EX Zetton, seeing this, covered its mouth in a very human-like gesture, even though it didn't have one.
It hit the wrong person. Its target wasn't the Ultraman, but the outsider who used the power of another universe.
If that great one found out he had messed up, he would definitely be turned into roasted Zetton.
"Tsk, what a pain."
Kneeling on the ground, Zero felt the scorching heat on his back. The timer on his chest flashed even faster.
"Hey, you. You have intelligence, don't you? An Alien Zetton? To think you've raised such a monster."
Even though the timer on his chest was about to go out, Zero just wiped his nose and sneered.
As an Ultra Warrior, he had this basic resolve. Although Stelle didn't trust him, he, Zero, was the kind of warrior who didn't hold grudges…
"Hey, Zero! What's wrong with you? Why are you beeping!"
Before Zero could continue his train of thought, Stelle, who didn't understand an Ultraman's physiology, asked anxiously from the side. "I don't know what's going on, but you don't look right. You're not going to die, are you!"
The girl's voice in his ear left Ultraman Zero speechless. "Shut up, you stupid woman. I'm just out of energy, I'm not going to die. You should be worried about yourself right now. If I go down, you'll be in danger."
"Energy?" Stelle muttered, then asked Zero, "If I become one with you, can you beat this thing?"
Zero shook his head. "I can't. A human host only reduces energy consumption; it can't replenish it. The light of this universe can't give me power."
"Oh. If light can't give you power, then… what about a Stellaron?"
"What?"