---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
Jun Himeya: "Ne… Nexus? That light… how could it be…"
Staring at the Evoltruster in his hand, then back at the light curtain, Jun Himeya could never have imagined that the Giant of Light he transformed into would appear in the footage, and as an avatar of Noa, no less.
Is Nexus strong? Jun Himeya didn't know, because he had never been able to use Nexus's full power.
Unlike Zero and Stelle's "one mind, one body" state, when Jun transformed into Nexus, most of the energy expenditure came at the cost of his physical stamina. Coupled with the relentless attacks of the Space Beasts, Jun had never been able to unleash Nexus's true potential.
To simultaneously fight two Ultramen and a monster, especially Ultramen of Cosmos and Zero's caliber—Jun believed that even if he fought until his Color Timer went out, he wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest.
Ash Ketchum: "Hey, did you see that? That Reionics guy can summon monsters! What's that all about? Don't tell me… that Battle Nizer in his hand is a Poké Ball?"
Instantly releasing a fifty-meter-tall monster made Ash intensely curious about the Battle Nizer in Rei's hand. He even started thinking about having Pikachu battle Gomora.
Absolutian Tartarus: "What a pity. So it's Nexus, not Noa? Fine. The death of Nexus should still have a significant impact on Noa. This is a good opportunity to witness the prowess of the legendary warrior."
Absolutian Titan: "Hmph, Nexus, is it? It seems we must deal with him first to kill Noa. For the future of my race, I will slay Noa, even if it costs me my life!"
In their kingdom, the Little Golden Man and Little Golden Sword were captivated by the scene on the light curtain. Although they spoke arrogantly, they knew their own limits.
Ultraman King's single attack was something no one in their entire kingdom, save for their great Lord, could withstand, let alone Noa, whose power was far superior to King's.
But for that very reason, they needed to rely on the light curtain to find Noa's weaknesses or vulnerabilities in advance. Otherwise, when the great war with the Ultra race began, what would they use to fight him?
"Hahaha, is the light curtain now broadcasting the internal strife of the Ultra race? Nexus…? The legendary warrior doesn't seem all that impressive. With my Cosmo Beast Style, I can defeat Noa in a single blow!"
Tartarus: …
Titan: …
Indeed, among any group of three, there is bound to be a fool. Both the Little Golden Man and the Little Golden Sword were just boasting, but only the Little Golden Bull truly believed he could defeat Noa…
---o---
Light Curtain
Inside the Meta Field, with little exchange between the two sides, Nexus charged toward the two Ultras and one beast without saying a word.
Soon, the four were entangled in a chaotic brawl.
After a brief exchange of blows, Nexus, relying on the blades on his wrists and his exquisite fighting skills, managed to suppress them all.
With Noa himself at the controls, Nexus's martial arts skills were in no way inferior to those of Leo, the King of Combat.
Coupled with a virtually infinite supply of energy, Nexus's strength was pushed to its absolute limit.
His control of distance was impeccable. Even in a three-on-one fight, he gave his opponents no opportunity to counterattack.
And it was important to remember… this was Nexus in his Anphans form, in a sense, the weakest power Noa could wield.
And who were his opponents?
One was Zero, the youngest and strongest of the Land of Light, a warrior whose fighting skills were not inferior to Leo's, who had grown up under the supervision of Ultraman King.
The other was Cosmos, the miraculous Giant of Light from space, whose mastery of Tai Chi-like techniques to deflect immense force was simply divine.
And while Rei's Gomora might not be as famous as the first two, it was the strongest individual of the Gomora species.
After undergoing brutal trials, Rei's Gomora would not be at a disadvantage against any single, complete Ultra Brother.
Yet these three overpowered opponents were being suppressed by Nexus in his weakest form.
If this were to happen out in the open universe, who knows what kind of waves it would create.
"BOOM—"
On the battlefield, Nexus landed a heavy punch on Gomora's body.
The intense pain was transmitted through Gomora to Rei's body, making him clutch his stomach involuntarily.
"It's no good… in this field, I can't use my full power!"
Rei clutched his abdomen, a heavy pressure weighing down on his shoulders.
Inside the Meta Field, his will, spirit, and stamina were all being consumed at an accelerated rate.
Gomora's speed was much slower than usual. Its thick tail couldn't be swung properly, and the part of its body that was originally its greatest source of strength had now become a burden.
Zero and Cosmos were in the same boat, suppressed with no ability to fight back.
"What can I do to defeat him?"
Rei thought to himself, his body unconsciously entering its combat state.
His body transformed into a human-sized being with an appearance somewhat similar to Alien Rayblood.
With this change in state, Gomora's attack frequency and power increased, knocking Nexus aside.
Seeing an opportunity, Zero at the side wanted to rush forward and pin Nexus down.
But Nexus, with almost no recovery time, quickly returned to his combat stance and threw a punch at Zero's face.
"Damn it, what a tough guy."
Parrying Nexus's attack, Zero was about to press forward when he was interrupted by Nexus's attack from an extremely strange trajectory.
Creating some distance, Nexus followed up with a Particle Feather, scraping a shower of sparks across Zero's chest.
Just as Zero lost his balance from the hit, a Cross-Ray Schtrom instantly formed in Nexus's hands, and a beam shot toward Zero's body.
With no way to dodge, Zero took the full brunt of the attack, which was powerful enough to disintegrate a Space Beast in one hit.
Blink… Blink…
The timer on his chest flashed wildly. The energy Zero had just restored with the Stellaron was now depleted in less than a few moments.
Fortunately, Zero had been kicked by the Leo Kick every day, forging an indestructible body. Otherwise, he would have been disintegrated by Nexus when he took that Cross-Ray Schtrom.
"Hey, hey, Zero, are you okay? This guy isn't kidding around! He's trying to kill us!"
Stelle said anxiously in Zero's mind. He had even used the Cross-Ray Schtrom. This didn't look like a sparring match at all; it was a life-or-death battle.
"Stelle," Zero gasped, communicating with the being inside him. "Please, can you lend me the power you used before?"
"The thing called… a Path."
Zero had almost forgotten that he wasn't fighting alone now. Stelle, his human host, could bring him immense power.
"Alright! We'll fight together! You better not lose, Zero!!"
Stelle knew this was no time for discussion. Nexus was ruthless, showing no signs of holding back.
If that was the case, then they didn't need to hold back either. A golden light flashed in her pupils.
A white aura rose from Stelle's body, blowing her hair upwards. Reflected on Zero's body outside, it was a wave of white energy condensing on his chest timer.
"Of course! I'm overflowing with power right now—!!"
Climbing back up from the ground, Zero placed both fists in front of his timer.
"Come on, Stelle! Let's combine our powers and charge!!!"
As Zero's voice fell, a white stream of energy condensed around his body, quickly enveloping him completely.
Then, the color of Zero's body changed. After being wrapped in the stream, his body transformed from the original silver, blue, and red to a singular silver-gray.
It was extremely similar in color to the Anphans Nexus before him.
Destruction-Zero!
Without the interference of Nanook's will, Zero successfully borrowed the power of the Path and transformed into a new form.
The tricolor tone of white, gray, and silver gave Zero a noble and mysterious look. His defense and power were also multiplied.
Seeing this, Cosmos on the other side stopped holding back.
"Hyaah—"
A sun-like ring of flames rose behind Cosmos. His body gradually turned red as he transformed into his more combat-oriented Corona Mode.
As the two Ultramen transformed, Nexus nodded slightly, as if acknowledging the change.
Then, he too swept his hand over his head and downwards. Light particles fell like rain onto Nexus's body.
Like Cosmos, Nexus's body also gradually turned red as he entered his Junis Red form.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage
Yukino Yukinoshita: "I thought Ultraman Zero was at his peak from the start, suppressing the Swarm and taking on the Star-Shattering Swarm King head-on. He was already so strong. I never expected Noa to be even more ferocious, almost taking him down with just his weakest form. It's truly unimaginable."
Ace Pilot: "So Zero can change forms too? And Nexus can as well? Damn it, why is it that when they change forms, they get an all-around buff, but Tiga just goes from balanced to specialized? The boost is too small."
Zett: "So… so… so cool!!! Silver-gray Master Zero is so cool too! And Master Zero is so strong! If it were me, I would have been dead long ago."
Ash Ketchum: "Argh! Why is no one talking about Rei? Damn it, I want to control Gomora and battle too!!"
Jun Himeya: "This… is Nexus? So it wasn't that Nexus was weak, but that I was too weak? If I had even half the power of Nexus controlled by Noa, I wouldn't have been injured so much in my battles."
---o---
Light Curtain
While Zero's trio and the red Nexus were locked in a fierce battle.
In the cosmos, the Star-Shattering Swarm King was continuously harvesting planets, turning them into nests.
With propagation as its sole purpose, it was creating life endlessly, just like the original Swarm King.
Although the Star-Shattering Swarm King's efficiency was much slower than Tayzzyronth's, there was no existence like the Land of Light in this universe to stop its propagation.
Therefore, the Swarm King quickly covered tens of thousands of light-years, turning millions of planets into nests and giving birth to a vanguard of soldiers numbering in the trillions.
The sky-spanning Swarm was constantly exchanging pheromones in space, attempting to turn every planet they visited into a nest.
The sea of stars was gradually being overrun by the insects, and many civilizations were destroyed as a result.
"Truly astonishing. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before this universe falls."
In a corner of the universe, a golden phantom stared in awe at the Swarm's propagation speed, raising its danger level for the Swarm by another notch in its mind.
Although it had come here to follow in Noa's footsteps, it never expected the Land of Light to be facing such a terrifying existence.
"The light of the Plasma Spark Tower has vanished. Belial and Alien Empera have formed an alliance. If this continues, it will not be good for my race."
In the empty space, the golden phantom gradually materialized. An alien, completely golden with a white skirt-like appendage, appeared before the audience.
The Ultimate Lifeform, Tartarus. After learning that the light of the Plasma Spark Tower had been stolen by Belial, this Ultimate Lifeform could finally no longer sit still.
The reason his race coveted the Land of Light was because of the Sacred Light of the Plasma Spark Tower. And now that the Land of Light had become a dead star and the Sacred Light was missing, wouldn't their long-cherished wish be in vain?
Fortunately, Belial had not hidden his tracks. Instead, he had swaggered into a partnership with the legendary Alien Empera, which gave Tartarus time to prepare.
"Belial is nothing, just a buffoon. The one to be concerned about… is Alien Empera."
Tartarus mused, shifting his gaze to the Swarm.
"Using these things seems a bit impossible, but… making Alien Empera proactively go after the insects doesn't seem difficult…"
"The Swarm's development has exceeded expectations and is even threatening Empera's dark empire. If this continues, Alien Empera will probably not be able to sit still… heh heh."
With a laugh, Tartarus disappeared from this region of space. He had to begin preparing his plan to seize the Sacred Light.
And from his words, the audience outside the light curtain quickly learned of the situation in the main universe.
In short… it was not optimistic. With the Land of Light gone, the dark forces of the universe had become active.
Moreover, the Swarm had expanded again, to the point where even a cosmic emperor like Empera was beginning to find them troublesome and difficult to deal with.
---o---