In the deep, profound expanse of the starry sky, the Swarm King had shrunk to a body the same size as Zero.
Its speed was incredible, having long since surpassed the speed of light.
After a brief exchange of blows, the Swarm King and Zero became locked in a battle of attrition.
Vibrating its wings, the Swarm King charged forward like the vanguard of a rushing army.
Between the Swarm King and Zero floated a lifeless planet nearly twice the size of Earth.
With a light slash of the Swarm King's bladed claw, the massive planet was sliced as if by scissors. It was then cleaved in two, collapsing and exploding in a cataclysmic blast.
On the other side, Zero met the Swarm King's claw with the Ultimate Zero Sword in his hand, their weapons clashing violently.
The few remaining Sting-Wings danced around the shattered planet, awaiting the moment to strike.
Boundless light flashed and flared. Zero and the Swarm King had turned the entire star system into their personal battlefield.
The Swarm King's speed exceeded that of light, but Zero, aided by the Aegis of Palagye, could execute short-range spacetime leaps, making his mobility even greater than the Swarm King's.
Every time a flash of blue and white light occurred, Zero would reappear hundreds of kilometers from his previous position.
This was not a battle that ordinary beings could possibly interfere with. The very fabric of the star system's space was being torn to shreds, resembling a great wheel of cheese riddled with countless long tunnels bored by mice.
The combined power of the Aegis of Palagye and the Path of Destruction instantly twisted the distorted space back into a rope-like fissure, compressing it into a thin membrane with an area of several hundred million square kilometers but a thickness of only a few atoms.
The remaining Swarm drones that attempted to join the fray were instantly torn to pieces by the resulting radiation winds the moment they touched the membrane.
But even so, under the Swarm King's command, the last remnants of the Swarm continued to charge toward the clash of powers, knowing neither fatigue nor death, only to be reduced to dust.
The sheer scale of this battle scene was in no way inferior to the final duel between the Father of Ultra and Alien Empera thirty thousand years ago.
The entire star system was being battered into oblivion. Throughout the entire universe, aside from the legendary warriors, there were few who could ever surpass such a state.
In other words, within the Ultraman universe, unless beings on the level of Noa or Ultraman King were to intervene, almost no one could stop this duel between Zero and the Swarm King.
---o---
As the clash between Zero and the Star-Shattering Swarm King raged on, the audience watching the light curtain screen was thrown into an unprecedented frenzy.
In the vast majority of worlds, humanity had yet to even set foot in space, let alone wage war within it.
And even in the eyes of audiences from civilizations that already possessed the concept of space and had begun cosmic voyages, this was still an unimaginable spectacle.
Boros: "Using planets as weapons and the galaxy as a battlefield! This is a true powerhouse! This is true passion!"
The Uchiha Dancer: "What a perfect dance of war! I, Madara Uchiha, declare this to be the strongest!"
The Horn-Breaking Demon Tiga: "Is this... the true power of an Ultraman? Does Tiga's body also hide a power capable of devouring celestial bodies?"
The Energy Conservationist: "...One is the most badass Ultraman from the Land of Light, and the other is the direct offspring of the Aeon of Propagation. Neither of these two are cheap goods."
Archbishop of Schicksal: "What an unexpected surprise. Although the scene is exaggerated, when you think about it, this is a gamble for the very survival of the entire universe. It naturally cannot be compared to the previous videos."
Father of Ultra: "Zero, sending you to Planet K76 was indeed the right choice. The new generation of the Land of Light will depend on you to lead them!"
He was gratified, so incredibly gratified.
Although the Ultra Brothers were famous throughout the universe, and their strength was top-tier on a cosmic scale, they were ultimately no match for terrifying opponents like Alien Empera and Tartarus.
Furthermore, the Father of Ultra's own combat power had been fatally reduced due to the old wound in his back, and Belial had betrayed the Land of Light.
If Alien Empera were to start another Great Ultra War, it would be another devastating catastrophe. Unless the King himself intervened, there was no telling how many years that war would last.
But... Zero's growth truly brought joy to the Father of Ultra's heart.
Especially after obtaining the Aegis of Palagye, his strength was already remarkably close to his own and Alien Empera's at their peaks.
With a little more progress, even that arrogant Ultimate Lifeform Tartarus from the bullet comments would be no match for him.
---o---
[Light Curtain Video]
After what felt like three minutes, Zero and the Swarm King could no longer sustain their high-intensity combat patterns.
They stood upon a massive floating rock plate in space, preparing for their final confrontation.
At this moment, under the Swarm King's final command, the very last Sting-Wing in this region of space fell, its life extinguished amidst the stars.
"Even though you're a brainless idiot, you're the first one besides Leo to be able to fight this young master to this extent."
Knowing full well that the Swarm King couldn't understand his words, Zero still chose to speak, as if playing a zither to a cow.
"Ch-ch-ch—!"
A piercing insectoid screech echoed through the vacuum of space. The Swarm King no longer possessed its earlier overwhelming might.
Rainbow-colored blood slowly seeped from its limbs. The prolonged battle had dulled the luster of its sharp claws, giving it the air of a hero in his twilight years.
But in the end, it was nothing more than a bug created by the Aeon of Propagation.
The Aeon of Propagation was an idiot itself, so one couldn't expect much more from the Swarm King.
"It seems you've reached your limit."
Zero ceased his attacks, his silver-gray body exuding a murderous aura.
Immediately after, the Aegis of Palagye rapidly transformed in mid-air, once again taking on the bow-like shape it had used to annihilate the Swarm, and attached itself to Zero's arm.
"Then allow me to deliver the final blow!!"
Zero said coldly as the arrow of light in his hand began to charge, all the energy in his body surging into the Aegis of Palagye.
A brilliant blue-white light condensed in his hand. There was no way the Swarm King could take this hit and survive.
"Ch-ch-ch..."
Faced with Zero's Ultimate Luminous Arrow, the Swarm King felt a primal fear.
It lacked intelligence, but it wanted to live. The drive to survive is an instinct possessed by every living creature.
However, the fatigue and weakness in its limbs rendered it immobile. Even the vibration frequency of the elytra on its back had slowed.
"———"
Suddenly, faintly, the Star-Shattering Swarm King heard His voice.
It was its god, the Aeon who had created it, the god who had given it power and purpose.
Even across an entire universe, no matter how far the Swarm King flew, the Aeon Tayzzyronth could easily locate it.
As long as it was a child of the Aeon, as long as it walked the Path of Propagation, then Tayzzyronth held absolute control over it.
Thus, at the moment the Swarm King was about to perish, the Aeon sensed its dire predicament.
The Aeon's voice was a chaotic and complex cacophony, like a mixture of the sounds of countless different types of insects.
His whisper echoed in the Swarm King's ear, sending a chill down one's spine, yet simultaneously compelling one to stop and listen, much like the gods of the Cthulhu Mythos—disordered and filled with a bizarre allure.
At that moment, it was as if the universe's time had frozen. The Swarm King's vision gradually became a void, empty and vast.
Its eyes could only see the figure of the Aeon Tayzzyronth. Its ears no longer heard the vast, ocean-like sounds of the stars, only the Aeon's whisper.
When that wisp of power tore through the celestial chasm of the universe and entered its body, this Swarm King's hope for survival was reignited.
The King's Cannon in its maw charged in the blink of an eye. This was the final hope for survival the Aeon had granted it.
The prismatic energy compressed and expanded continuously, like a collapsing black hole, gestating a power capable of destroying everything.
"What?" Zero exclaimed.
He stared at the scene in disbelief. The Swarm King should have been a spent force, yet now it had somehow managed to charge up its terrifying King's Cannon once more.
However, the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be fired. Zero had already poured all of his energy into charging the Ultimate Luminous Arrow; this wasn't a move he could just cancel on a whim.
"Perfect! This time won't be like the last. Have a taste of my real power! Let's settle this once and for all!!"
After a brief moment of surprise, Zero's energy output efficiency soared even higher.
Before, it was precisely because he had engaged in a beam struggle with the Swarm King that he had been sucked into a spatial rift and ended up in this universe.
And now, it seemed history was repeating itself.
But for the current Zero, he would absolutely not let what happened before happen again.
Times had changed. Armed with the Aegis of Palagye, he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
"HRAAAAGH—!!"
The arrow was released from his bow. The blue arrow of light shot forward like an untamed steed.
The cosmic space it passed through twisted and collapsed under the beam's might; even spacetime itself could barely contain such a powerful existence.
The memory of the star system being wiped clean in an instant was still fresh, causing the Swarm King's body to tremble involuntarily.
But... empowered by the Aeon Tayzzyronth, how could it possibly lose to Zero?
Against the all-consuming power of the Luminous Arrow, the beam from the Swarm King's cannon fired instantly, colliding with the arrow of light.
Then... after resisting the Luminous Arrow for a few seconds, it was completely torn apart by its radiance and vanished without a trace.
And the arrow of light didn't pause for a moment, continuing its trajectory straight toward the Swarm King's body.
The Aeon had granted the Star-Shattering Swarm King a final chance at survival, completely restoring its depleted energy.
But for the Zero who now possessed the Aegis of Palagye, unless the Aeon could grant the Swarm King even more and stronger power of the Path in a short amount of time, it was impossible to withstand this blow.
The Swarm King's body was shattered into pieces by the arrow's power, drifting in the cosmos, becoming like snowflakes in the vast expanse of space.
"It's over..."
Zero muttered to himself. The Aegis of Palagye then vanished, and his form reverted to its original state.
Dinga... Dinga—
The Color Timer on his chest began to flash slowly. After fighting for so long, even someone with Zero's constitution was feeling the strain.
"Is the Swarm King... dead?"
Stelle shook her slightly fuzzy head, looking out at the cosmic space that had been thrown into utter chaos.
Patches of colorful nebulas drifted about. Several rifts had been torn into the spiral-shaped space, exerting a powerful suction force outward.
For any spaceship to try and escape in such an environment would be a fool's dream, utterly impossible.
"Yeah, it's over. Once my energy recovers a bit, we'll return to the main universe, press the advantage, and directly wipe out that... uh, Aeon of Propagation."
Zero said it as if it were a matter of fact, even though his body was too exhausted from the high-intensity battle to even move.
Stelle looked at the current Zero and couldn't help but roll her eyes.
This guy. He's clearly dead tired, but he still has to act tough, as if that Swarm King was no threat to him at all.
To be honest, if the Astral Express had encountered an opponent of the Swarm King's level, the entire crew would have probably been doomed.
After all, while Mr. Yang wasn't weak, even he could only run from an Emanator. As for the rest of them... they couldn't even beat Mr. Yang.
"Phew~" Taking a deep breath, Stelle waited until Zero had recovered a certain amount of stamina before saying, "Let's go. We need to rendezvous with Ultraman Cosmos and the Space Pendragon and tell them the Swarm King has been completely eliminated."
"Right!"
---o---
[Light Curtain Bullet Comments]
After witnessing the fall of the Swarm King, the audience outside the light curtain let out a collective sigh of relief.
Honestly... that was a winding and arduous journey.
To expend so much effort on a mere Emanator who wasn't even the Aeon of Propagation itself... what would they do when they faced the real thing?
Although Zero was definitely stronger than the Swarm King now, he certainly wasn't stronger by a huge margin.
And the power of the Aeon of Propagation was not in the same dimension as the Swarm King's. In the end, the Swarm King's power was just a small fraction partitioned out by the Aeon.
If it wanted to, as long as there were enough resources, the Aeon could still produce Emanator-class Swarm Kings just like the Star-Shattering Swarm King.
It could even mass-produce them. At that point, Zero would probably die from sheer exhaustion.
But even so, Zero still had to step up. With both Ultraman King and Noa unable to act freely, they could only rely on Zero's strength...
Horned Alien Juggler: "After this battle, Ultraman Zero's fame is probably going to spread throughout the entire universe. Even Seven and the other Ultra Brothers will likely bask in some of his glory."
Yukino Yukinoshita: "Be bolder. Not just the entire universe, but the entire infinite multiverse."
Youkai Sage: "Compared to the previous subjects chosen by the light curtain, who had distinct personalities, Zero seems to have conquered countless fans with his strength."
Gensokyo's Public Morals Officer: "Well, well, a flawless personality and overwhelming strength. That's the secret to popularity right there."
Archbishop of Schicksal: "I wonder what kind of expression Zero will have when he sees the Land of Light on the brink of destruction. And there's still the impending reappearance of Alien Empera and Belial, as well as the Ultimate Lifeform Tartarus lurking in the shadows... Hehe, compared to the Aeon of Propagation, these things are far more interesting."
---o---