Under the stunned gaze of the GUTS team, the dark giant effortlessly crushed the massive monster Golza, then turned his attention to Melba.
"Heh…"
Facing the sky-rending dragon Melba, the giant let out a cold laugh and clenched both hands in empty air. From the darkness, he pulled out a sharp katana, the Empera Blade.
"Your partner's already dead, so what are you still standing around for?"
With a swagger so arrogant it looked like he had forgotten the whole world existed, the giant strode up to Melba, idly twirling the Empera Blade in his hand as if he were deciding where to start cutting first.
Roar!
Melba shrieked fearfully at the sight of the dark giant. Beating its wings, it whipped up fierce gusts of wind and made to shoot into the sky.
"And how exactly am I supposed to let you leave?"
The dark giant looked at the fleeing Melba with open contempt.
Before Melba could fully take off, the dark giant tightened his grip on the sword and leaped high. A flash of silver lit the air.
A dragon's head fell from the sky in an instant, kicking up clouds of dust…
And he still was not done. Several more dazzling arcs of cold light flashed, carving Melba into countless pieces!
That swordsmanship was enough to make anyone's skin crawl. Even Ace, the old-school beam-happy dismemberment maniac, would have had to stop and think twice after seeing that.
"Heh…"
After killing Melba and Golza, the dark giant stood where he was and let out a cold laugh. He stretched out his right hand toward the field of remains, and in the next instant, strange energy seemed to separate from the corpses of Golza and Melba and gather in his palm.
"These are fusion materials. Better keep them."
After harvesting the souls of Golza and Melba, the dark giant slung the Empera Blade over his shoulder and leisurely rose into the sky until he was level with the GUTS team aboard GUTS Wing 2.
"The giant is looking at us!"
Inside GUTS Wing 2, Munakata and the others stared in shock at the dark Ultra's sinister eyes. One after another, they shrank back instinctively in their seats. The dark giant's methods against the monsters had been utterly merciless, grotesque, and vicious enough to fill the team with fear. It was hard for any of them to accept that such a dark and obviously dangerous giant could really be humanity's protector.
"Heh…"
After sweeping his gaze over the crew in GUTS Wing 2, the giant flew upward with a trace of disdain and vanished into the clouds.
"I can't be the only one who feels like that giant just mocked us…"
Inside GUTS Wing 2, the team traded looks. For some reason, they all felt that the dark giant's last glance had been filled with ridicule and mockery.
"Shouldn't we go down and investigate?"
"Probably…"
The GUTS members spoke in fits and starts.
Even after the giant had long since disappeared into the horizon, they were still completely baffled, their brains unable to reconnect after shorting out.
"I found Dr. Jovian!"
It was only when Horii's voice rang in their ears that they finally remembered what they were supposed to be doing.
"Descend. Back to the island!"
Vice-Captain Munakata gave the order at once.
"Understood!"
Everyone inside GUTS Wing 2 nodded.
A short while later, under Shinjoh's piloting, GUTS Wing 2 returned to the island.
The team disembarked and hurried toward the position Horii had shared with them.
By the time they reached the spot, all they saw was Jovian, still in his white lab coat, adjusting some sort of machine as if he were recording data.
"You're here."
Noticing Munakata and the others, Jovian put away the instrument and greeted them.
"Uh, yes, Dr. Jovian, we're here!"
"You, where exactly did you go just now? We were all very worried about you."
Munakata had originally intended to question Jovian about where he had gone and what he had been doing, but because Jovian greeted him first, half his momentum evaporated on the spot.
"Where I went is not important." Jovian shook his head, then, before anyone could ask anything else, gave his orders directly. "Seal off this island. Starting today, it is closed to the public until our investigation is completely finished. Recover all of these monster remains. Once we fully analyze their genes, they may be useful to us in the future. And these two giant statues too, they don't appear to be reviving for now, but they may wake up one day. Recover them as well."
"Yes, sir!"
Munakata and the others were overwhelmed by Jovian's presence. Without thinking, they straightened up and saluted him respectfully.
"Mm…"
"Horii, stay here and help them analyze the site."
Jovian nodded at the obedient-looking team, then turned to Horii beside him.
"Understood, please don't worry. I'll make sure the site analysis goes smoothly!"
The moment he got his orders, Horii hurried right in front of Jovian like a shameless little lackey, promising he would absolutely complete the task.
"Mm." Jovian nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Rena. "All right, Rena, take me back first. They're enough for this place."
"Yes, sir!"
Rena straightened up, saluted, and stepped behind Jovian.
Then Jovian, hands behind his back like the team's commanding officer, casually walked away from the giant battlefield ruins.
"So we turned into his assistants?"
Only after Jovian had left did Munakata finally realize they had basically become Jovian's tagalongs.
"Uh…"
Shinjoh and the others fell silent. None of them quite knew what to say.
"We should just focus on doing our own jobs."
Horii was the most relaxed about it. In his view, listening to the smarter person's more accurate judgment was perfectly normal.
"Fair enough…"
Munakata could not really argue with that, because Horii was right. Their mission was to assist Jovian, so following his orders on certain matters was not unreasonable.
Elsewhere…
Inside GUTS Wing 1, Rena and Jovian boarded the aircraft and prepared to leave the island of giants.
"Rena…"
Sitting behind her, Jovian watched as she got ready to start the aircraft. After thinking for a while, he seemed to make up his mind.
"Dr. Jovian, do you need something?"
Rena turned around, her eyes full of puzzled curiosity.
"It's nothing important…"
"There's just one thing I'd like to ask of you."
Jovian smiled at her cautious, respectful expression.
"What is it? Just say the word."
Rena waved it off. In her mind, if she could help Jovian with something, then it had to be for the good of GUTS and Earth, so she did not see any problem with it.
"Really?"
"Then thank you very much."
"In that case, let me borrow your body for a while."
Seeing how polite she was, Jovian smiled at once, then raised one hand and summoned Marie's light.
"What?!"
"I don't really understand what you mean…"
Rena froze after hearing him, clearly not understanding at all.
"What do I mean?"
"Heh, you'll understand soon enough."
Jovian smiled and pressed the light in his hand into Rena's body.
"Ah!"
Wrapped in dazzling brilliance, Rena let out a scream at once…
Elsewhere, Daigo, who was using his time off to investigate things at the Geological Institute, suddenly felt his heart lurch.
It was as if something precious beyond words had just been stolen from him.
"Marie, are you awake?"
After pressing the light into Rena's body, Jovian quietly watched her the entire time. Only once Rena had been completely replaced by Marie did he finally speak.
"I am awake. I was only wondering how many more worlds will be destroyed by your power."
Marie had awakened in this world using Rena's body.
The instant she awoke, she understood that they had already left their original universe and entered a completely new one, a universe whose laws and flow of time were utterly different from their own, a universe without the Land of Light.
At the same time, Marie felt sorrow, because in her eyes Jovian was a being who brought only destruction, and sooner or later he would ruin this peaceful universe too.
"Hahaha…"
"I'm not someone who only knows how to destroy."
Jovian merely laughed softly after hearing Marie's words.
"I know exactly what kind of person you are!"
"I'll change you with love."
Having easily gained access to Rena's memories, Marie started the aircraft and declared her determination to the Jovian seated behind her.
"You really are a saint."
Jovian almost did not know what to say. Marie, brainwashed by Pete (TN: Ultraman King), was the very picture of a messianic saint.
"But the thing I enjoy most is making saints like you bow their heads."
A smile tugged at Jovian's lips. The greatest pleasure in his life was forcing people like that to reveal the evil side hiding inside them.
"I won't."
Marie's attitude was firm, and she was confident she would never become like Jovian.
"We'll see."
Jovian crossed one leg over the other, his eyes full of amusement as he watched her.
After Jovian and the others returned to GUTS, he was summoned by the TPC Director General.
The Director General praised him lavishly, saying Jovian had handled everything with remarkable decisiveness.
It was precisely because of that decisiveness that they had found the pyramid, discovered the legendary giant, and defended Earth's peace once again.
Jovian only smiled along half-heartedly at the praise, then went off to handle his own business.
The Ultra-Ancient ruins of R'lyeh…
On a small island in the Pacific Ocean.
Dressed in white, Jovian swaggered through the ruins. He broke through the site's defensive system, went deep into the heart of the ruins, and looked at the three ferocious giant statues inside with a dismissive smile.
"How long do you three plan on sleeping?"
Jovian raised one hand high, and endless black lightning suddenly appeared. The bolts struck the three statues in an instant, and the power of darkness fully recharged them at once.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar that shook the earth, the three Ultra-Ancient giants shattered the rock covering their bodies and appeared before Jovian.
"Ahhh!"
"That was one hell of a long nap. What era is this now?"
The dark red giant looked around and roared.
"I think I just sensed a familiar presence…"
"Now who do we have here?"
The blue giant stretched his body, and with his keen senses, immediately noticed Jovian in white standing below.
"Idiot, you still haven't noticed?"
"Or did that long wait dull your senses?"
"Have none of you realized whose power it was that broke our seal?"
Standing between the red and blue giants was a golden female giant with a gorgeous figure. The very instant she woke up, she noticed Jovian below them.
"Tiga, after all this time, have you finally understood?"
"Have you finally realized that everything Yuzare said was a lie, and that we were always your true companions?"
"Even if it took you this long, it doesn't make my waiting all these years any less worthwhile."
The golden female giant looked at Jovian, who radiated endless dark energy, as if all thirty million years of waiting had been worth it.
"Tiga?!"
"My friend, you've come back? That's great!"
The red giant looked thrilled at the sight of Jovian. He seemed not to care at all about Tiga's betrayal thirty million years ago. All he cared about was Tiga's attitude now.
"Hmph…"
The blue giant said nothing, but his gaze toward Jovian remained filled with scrutiny, as though he could not fully trust him.
"My friends, after all this time…"
"I've learned something."
"This universe is far bigger than we ever imagined!"
"So open your minds a little. Don't keep your eyes fixed on one tiny Earth. Look up at the stars more often, because from here on out, the entire multiverse can be ours."
Jovian casually pulled out a black Sparklence. In the next instant, amid countless black bolts of lightning, he transformed into a dark giant and stood before the three of them, speaking in a deep voice as he sold them the vision.
"The multiverse…"
The three giants exchanged glances, and each of them saw shock in the others' eyes.
"Go on then, tell us more."
The beautiful golden female giant standing between the others walked up beside Jovian, rested herself against his shoulder, and asked.
"Then let me give you a taste of our plans."
Jovian smiled and waved a hand. At once, a vast universe, unreal and yet vividly real, spread out before the three dark giants.
Once Jovian had gotten his bearings, he discovered that the universe closest to the Tiga universe was…
The world of Ultraman Trigger, suspended between parallel space and the future.
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