---o---
Zero stared at the dazzling figure of his future self, yet at this moment, he felt no joy whatsoever.
So what if he had obtained a new form? So what if he had gained immense power?
The people he cherished were all dead, dead right before his eyes, dead by his own hands.
The dead... could not be brought back to life.
Even if he defeated the darkness, even if he defeated the Swarm King, he could do nothing.
At this thought, Zero's sorrow intensified. He swore to himself that he would strengthen his spirit now, so that he would not truly be consumed by darkness as he was in the video!
At that moment, on Planet K76, Leo looked at the Zero before him and nodded thoughtfully.
Zero was currently blaming himself because of the video's content. This was the perfect opportunity to stimulate his potential!
"The previous training methods were too one-sided. While they made Zero's body stronger, they neglected his spiritual tempering."
"To become a qualified Ultra Warrior, one must possess a strong conviction and will!"
"I must strengthen Zero's spiritual training!"
Leo muttered to himself, recalling his own past experiences, and made a decision. "Since it has come to this, let's add the Ultra Jeep, Eye Sluggers, and the waterfall-cutting training to the schedule."
He absolutely could not allow Zero to be so easily controlled by darkness!
Aside from Zero himself, the appearance of Shining Zero also sent massive shockwaves through the Ultra universe and the other infinite dimensional cosmos.
[Great Emperor of the Dark Universe: "Ultraman Zero? I have to admit, the Ultraman Zero in the video has already surpassed Ken, surpassed all the Ultra Warriors of the Land of Light. He is now... unmatched." ]
In the Land of Light, the Ultra Brothers looked at Zero's new form. Ultraman, the first, couldn't help but wipe his brow. "Honestly... Zero is barely an adult, right? He's even younger than Mebius was when he first arrived on Earth. His talent is even greater than the Captain's. Truly, the new generation surpasses the old."
Zoffy heard his brother's words and shook his head. "Zero's talent and opportunities are indeed enviable, but what's more precious is his spirit, his invaluable... Ultra Spirit!"
As the others discussed, only Seven watched his son's power leap forward once again. He was gratified, yet so emotional he could hardly speak.
As expected of... my son!!
In the distance, the Father of Ultra was also amazed to see Shining Zero's debut. The surprises Zero brought him were simply too many!
With the younger generation being this powerful, he could now entrust the Land of Light to them with peace of mind.
The Father of Ultra nodded. Zero's continued growth made him faintly realize that his own era had passed. It was time for these children to shine.
---o---
[In the video, Phantylia stared in terror at Shining Zero. "What... what is this form?"]
His entire body was enveloped in a golden stream of light, and even the timer on his chest had changed. The transformation of Zero's form was completely beyond her expectations!
She never thought that even now, Zero hadn't completely lost his will to fight?
["But... you have already killed your own comrades with your own hands! There is no turning back! Even if you reclaim your body, you will live out the rest of your life in remorse and pain!"]
Looking at the shining brilliance in the sky, Phantylia took a deep breath and said.
She refused to believe that Zero would feel nothing after killing his own comrades.
In her view, given the general disposition of Ultra Warriors, even if he truly defeated his dark side, he would be destroyed in endless pain and the abyss of despair.
On Alien Empera's spaceship, Shining Zero opened his arms.
A powerful light directly illuminated the darkness hidden within his body.
"This is impossible!" Dark Zero roared.
He charged at Zero in disbelief, but Shining Zero simply made a single, simple motion.
He slowly pushed out one of his hands, and the immense power instantly sent Dark Zero's body flying.
In the next moment, Shining Zero turned in mid-air and fired an Emerium Ray!
Dark Zero was struck by the beam, and the pain radiating from the wound made him gasp for breath.
Shining Zero stared at the dark version of himself before him and said coldly, "Have you never possessed it?"
Dark Zero was stunned. He looked at Zero's eyes, which were filled with confusion. "What?"
"Something worth protecting." Shining Zero's body was filled with divinity, and his golden radiance completely illuminated the entire space.
"You are Dark Zero, my dark side. You possess power even greater than mine, yet you do not know what to protect!"
Clenching his fist, Zero looked at Dark Zero with pity in his eyes. "It is precisely because you have never possessed these things that... no matter how strong you are, you will never be my opponent!"
Hearing Zero's words, Dark Zero gritted his teeth and retorted as if his defenses had been broken, "Stop spouting nonsense! What does a guy like you know!"
"I am the real Zero! I am the one and only ruler of the universe!"
Dark Zero's voice grew more and more turbid. As if to prove something, the resentful energy on his body swirled around with his voice!
Seeing this, Shining Zero sighed softly. "Why do you only seek to destroy, and not to protect those who should be protected?"
Because of Shining Zero's words, Dark Zero became incomparably frantic. "Nonsense! Utter nonsense!!"
Shining Zero, however, clenched his five fingers into a fist and suddenly exerted his strength.
The fist let out a series of cracking sounds.
"Because... you who do not understand what it means to protect—"
Shining Zero extended his index finger, pointing it at the Dark Zero before him!
"Will never become the real me!"
As his voice fell, Dark Zero stood stunned for a good while. He clearly hadn't expected Zero to say such a thing to him.
But...
He wasn't Zero to begin with. He was a new lifeform born within Zero's body from the darkness of the armor and Phantylia's desire for survival.
Whether it was controlling the body or carrying out destruction, weren't these things he was supposed to do, having been born under such circumstances?
But... but why? Why did he feel such immense disgust at Zero's words!
"Shut up!!"
Endless resentment and darkness erupted from Dark Zero's body. This was his true power!
And amidst the countless layers of rotating light, Shining Zero extended his right hand and reached for Dark Zero!
His body instantly grew hundreds of times larger. Under that palm of shining light, all resentment and darkness would be scattered into nothingness. Dark Zero could only retreat backward in terror.
However, he could not escape Shining Zero's grasp. In the next moment, his body was engulfed by the light!!
And inside Alien Empera's spaceship, Dark Zero clutched his chest and suddenly let out a wail!
Countless rays of light shot out from his body. In the next moment, all darkness and resentment were expelled from him!
The piercing light was so bright it forced people's eyes shut!
And then...
Sacred, beautiful...
Shining Zero appeared on the dark island.
Stelle watched Shining Zero appear, her eyes widening in an instant.
"Zero... you... you're back!"
Shining Zero gently used his energy to heal the wounds on Stelle's body, then turned his gaze to the ruined battlefield.
The fallen Ultra Brothers, the crashed Phoenix, and the scattered Cosmos and near-dead Dyna.
They had all lost their light, all of them had fallen here.
A blue light emanated from Shining Zero's eyes. In the next moment, he slowly raised his right hand, and a deep blue light gathered in his palm.
Immediately after, a giant sphere composed of countless light particles released a radiance that enveloped the surroundings!
Even the spaceship of the Great Emperor of the Dark Universe, Alien Empera, was directly turned to ash under that light!
The light of the sun shone upon this island for the first time, and even the distant horizon was tinged with a golden ripple.
At the same time... the surrounding scenery, under the guidance of Zero's immense power, began to undergo a world-altering change!
Far away at the edge of the universe, Ultraman King cast his gaze towards Earth in surprise. He looked at the Zero of this moment. "Zero... he is... reversing time!"
That's right.
To save the people who had died.
Shining Zero chose to use this power, the power to turn back time!!
As day and night rapidly changed, everything in the surroundings began to flow backward. Even the Darkness Armor that had been destroyed by Stelle was gradually restored!
When the light reached its peak, the Ultra Brothers, Cosmos, and Dyna, and even the lives of the humans aboard the Phoenix, were gradually restored!
When the eclipse completely swallowed the sun, the dazzling white light dissipated—
Zero's hands hung heavily at his sides. He had reverted to his original form, and just as he was about to collapse, a powerful arm caught him.
It was, of course... Ultraman Seven!
Zero looked at his father before him and said guiltily, "Father... I'm sorr..."
Before he could finish, he stumbled from exhaustion and fell.
And the other restored Ultras caught Zero at almost the same time.
"Hey, hey! Pull yourself together! Look how weak you are."
A smile crept onto Ultraman Dyna's lips as he looked at Zero, who had returned to the light.
Stelle, standing on the ground, also smiled, but she quickly composed herself, looked around, and asked in a serious tone, "Where's Phantylia?"
---o---
[Light Curtain Comments]
With the manifestation of the power of time, all the viewers across the infinite dimensional cosmos gasped in unison.
Everyone was stunned by the power of Shining Zero!
"Terrifying, this is simply too terrifying. Is this the power of light?!!"
In a corner of the universe, Tregear felt a tremor run through his entire body.
Absolutely... he absolutely could not let Zero grow into the figure seen in the video!!
He had to release Belial ahead of time, then find the planet where Zero was training and, before Zero could grow into that form, kill him!
Zero was simply too powerful. In the future, not only would he have many powerful forms, but he would even be able to control time!
What controlling time meant... many powerful beings knew this all too well!
For example, DIO and Jotaro from the previous video. They could only manipulate a few seconds of time, and it was enough to shake the entire multiverse. Let alone Shining Zero.
In a battle between the strong, even a single second could decide victory or defeat!
If Zero completely mastered the power of time, allowing him to freely control the advance, reversal, and even stopping of time around his body...
That would already be the domain of a "god." A rule that only a god could control!
When that time truly came, with Ultraman King and Zero guarding the Land of Light, they would likely be unmatched in this universe!!
"Re...reversing time to revive people, you can actually play like that!"
Conan stared at the light curtain before him. He had considered that the Ultramen wouldn't die, but he never expected them to be revived like this!
[Yukino Yukinoshita: "Zero's current ability is probably already the strongest in the Land of Light, the kind that even the Father of Ultra can't compare to."]
[Ultraman Orb: "...Awesome... just too awesome!! Master Zero, so strong, so cool!!"]
---o---
[In the video, with Stelle's voice, everyone finally realized that Phantylia, who had run into Ultraman Zero's body, had disappeared.]
"That bastard... is she still thinking of taking over someone else's body!"
Ultraman Dyna clenched his fists. Clearly... if Phantylia appeared before him now, he would not hesitate to crush her with his fists.
Although it wasn't Phantylia who had acted directly, in a sense, she had nearly gotten them all wiped out.
What was even more terrifying was that this damn thing, Phantylia, was immortal. As long as she was alive, she would never let people live in peace!
"Don't worry... this thing is inside my body now. She's been completely sealed by me!"
Ultraman Zero pointed to the timer on his chest. Having regained himself, his control over his own body had once again improved.
Without the assistance of dark energy, Phantylia was naturally unable to control Zero's body.
She, who thought she was being clever, was now completely trapped within Ultraman Zero's body, unable to escape, unable to flee.
"Stelle, wait until the war with the Swarm King is over, then we'll deal with this thing. She has now lost all ability to do evil."
"But..." Stelle looked at Zero, a little worried. After all, Phantylia's ability was truly disgusting, and she was immortal.
What if she controlled Zero's body again? That would be a huge problem...
Seeing Stelle's worried expression, Zero took a deep breath, squatted down, and said to the young girl before him, "Relax. This time, forget about her taking advantage of a weakness. Even if I die, Phantylia won't even think about getting out of my body!"
["I, Zero! Will absolutely never be influenced by this kind of bastard again!"]
---o---
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