Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

"Do not--!!!"

"We won't—!!!"

"we are--!!!"

The villain's last laughable, unwilling voice came to an abrupt end almost instantly.

The light dissipated, leaving only countless scattered points of light in the vacuum, like fireflies, like flying snowflakes, like shattered stars.

The evil giant vanished, leaving only Shinji Ikari—the Giant of Light Ultraman—suspended alone in the vacuum, bathed in endless light, awaiting the victory.

Oh, it also emitted a radiant light, dispelling all the shattered lunar meteorites. Although it did not piece the White Moon back together, it did restore the Earth's tides to normal.

On Earth, there was a full three seconds of silence, and then—

The cheers erupted.

"We won!!!"

"We won!!!"

"Shinji!! Shinji!! Shinji!!!"

People embraced, wept, and cheered together. Those who were cursing just moments ago were now laughing; those who were fearful were now jumping; those who were doubting were now raising their hands.

That was a victory, their victory, a victory shared by both the saved and the saved. Of course, not many of them might fully understand what it meant, but in short, this better world deserves to be celebrated.

In space, Shinji Ikari looked down at the blue planet and at the tiny figures cheering.

His lips curled up slightly, revealing a relieved smile, a victorious smile.

A young man who has finally completed his mission smiles from the bottom of his heart.

And so everything

Is this the end...?

Snap~ Snap~ Snap

A cheer rang out, and the play resumed before everyone's eyes. They watched as a handsome young man, carrying a guitar, smiled and clapped, walking out like a perfectly convincing mastermind villain.

"A wonderful performance, truly moving! However—"

"This performance is definitely not over yet."

Tsugumi looked at the giant of light before her, then glanced at Shinji Ikari behind her, whose expression trembled slightly, and said with a smile.

"My saint, my saint, do you still remember the teachings I imparted to you?"

“…sinners will suffer.” he murmured.

“Yes, all sinners must be punished as they deserve.” He raised his hand, and the souls of the SEELE members gathered in his palm, but they screamed and howled incessantly, suffering unimaginable torment.

“But they’re not the only sinners.” Tsugumi gently stroked her cheek, chuckling softly.

"I've said it before, of the three billion people who have survived in this world, countless have sins that need to be atoned!"

The thin veil was torn off, revealing the body that Tsurugi was currently controlling—a body imprisoned and tortured beyond recognition!

Upon seeing that face, even though fifteen years had passed and it was completely unrecognizable, Misato Katsuragi still gaped in disbelief.

"Father, Father?"

At this moment, he was inside a huge and painful machine. He could no longer feel pain and hatred, but the pain accumulated over the past fifteen years had been transformed into a terrifying miracle through the engine itself!

Yes, Tsurugi likes happy endings—but he doesn't accept a confused or haphazard happy ending!

There are still many people in this world who deserve punishment and judgment. It is not time to end until all sins have been atoned!

I love beauty, but I love punishing evildoers even more!

"I will punish this world, for the three billion people who died, for the slaughtered creatures, for the destroyed environment, and for the ravaged planet."

Looking down at the world below, Tsurugi could feel the pleas and despair of his followers, even the collapse of their faith, but he didn't care about any of that.

His task as the 'Holy Spirit' is not to have faith in him personally, but to acknowledge his existence and then practice his ways.

His path is very simple: regardless of the cost or consequences, punish evil and promote good!

"Lord Tsugumi, what are you doing?" Shinji Ikari asked in a trembling voice.

“It’s very simple.” Tsugumi looked at him, smiled slightly, and casually stated a result that would drag the world into an abyss.

"I will open a gate to the hell of jealousy, and on the other side of the gate, monsters will emerge."

“They will punish the guilty in my place. Of course, I will lower an iron wall to shield the innocent countries from the major ones, but all sinners in this world who commit wrongdoings in the future will have to go through the iron wall to atone for their sins indefinitely.”

"And all the people in other places must atone for their sins!!!"

He smiled and casually described the future of this world—a future leading to an almost endless war of atonement!

"Shinji, what will you choose?" Tsugumi asked Shinji Ikari with a smile.

"Will you come with me, or...?"

Shinji Ikari remained silent for a long time, his heart filled with turmoil. After a moment, he let out a long breath, and then, controlling the Giant of Light, slowly raised his hands towards Tsugumi.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tsugumi," he said, his voice filled with remorse yet also with unwavering resolve.

"I choose to do what I want to do... I won't argue with you about any grand principles, I just feel that this is the choice I would make!"

"To be your enemy and save the world is what I believe is the right thing to do!"

"Ha, you did a great job!"

405

"Child!" Unexpectedly, Tsurugi wasn't angry; instead, she laughed heartily, praising him and nodding with satisfaction.

"You have followed your own path, which may not have been paved by me, but isn't it also the right path for you?"

Shinji Ikari was stunned for a moment, and then a feeling he couldn't quite describe—whether it was happiness and embarrassment, sadness and guilt, or a sense of pride in being recognized by his father— welled up inside him.

To love other things more than one's love for the Lord is the sin of desire. Yet Tsuruga never denied this, after all, his starting point was also the sin of desire.

He has always followed the path he believes is right, regardless of the outcome. And now, the first saint he chose, even when facing the Holy Spirit of his faith, has made the choice he believes is right—to become his enemy!

How can this not be something to be happy about? How can it not be something to praise?

But, one thing is one thing!

Praise aside, there are some things that Dongjiang will not let go of!

“You are a child I am proud of. I will be leaving soon, but before I leave…” Tsurugi’s voice became low, or rather, frighteningly, his voice no longer came from the body in front of him.

Instead, it seems to come from every place, endlessly, from every corner.

A crimson light instantly robbed everyone of their senses. Within this blinding light, all life felt a pain, hatred, fear, and the incongruity of the arrival of an extraordinary being!

It is a savage hatred of modernity, a memory of a lost world, an irreconcilable anomaly, an entity created by overwhelming tension!

All people, all life, regardless of language, transcending words, knowledge, and even wisdom, have the name of this entity deeply imprinted in the depths of their memory and soul—

The Crimson King (Khahrahk)

But this feeling was only fleeting; this transcendent being was simply unable to descend upon this place! Or rather, even it itself, at this moment, was completely unable to control this essential existence.

Dongjiang cannot wield force, but he can wield power.

Therefore, he merely used this power to bring to this place a concept that embodies its destructive nature and is opposed to the Giant of Light in terms of story driving force.

As the light faded, Shinji Ikari sensed that Lipia's nerves were on edge, and he even felt a sense of fear emanating from this fearless being!

"Watch out, Shinji! That thing is..."

"Let me teach you a lesson: a proper ending to a story must be accompanied by a fitting battle!"

Beep beep beep beep beep beep~~~

Standing in the void of space amidst a strange, electronic-like sound was a pitch-black object.

Its outline was pure black, as if light had been broken and crashed around it, like the end of light. Its arms, like curved scythes, were drawn back to its chest, and a pair of enormous wings slowly opened and closed behind it, like the flapping of a butterfly from hell. The wing membranes glowed with a scorching dark red, like extinguished embers, or like wounds that would never heal.

But the most striking feature was its "face"—mouthless and noseless, with only a vertical gaping hole, a pair of enormous amber-colored cross-shaped structures, and black horns like those of a longhorn beetle atop its head. Its eyes were cold and transparent, reflecting the destruction of the city, but without a trace of reflection, only emptiness, and within that emptiness burning a yellowish-orange hunger.

Space Dinosaur Hyper Zetton!

On the road to godhood, you must kill, kill, kill! : 282. Hyper Zetton vs. Ultraman Lipia

Beep beep beep beep beep beep~~~

In the pitch-black universe, in the absolute depths of space, standing before the giant of light is a creature called Hyper Zetton!

The moment it arrived, amidst the horrified cries of the people of Earth, darkness enveloped the entire world!

In another universe, it is known as the God of Destruction and the Evil God of Annihilation. It once devoured the life of an entire universe before it was born!

However—Tsugumi obviously didn't really become that Hyper Zetton.

The Hyper Zetton he summoned was merely a projection, not even the special individual that Saga had defeated.

But why does Tsugumi possess the power to summon such a monster?

This is entirely due to his Crimson King skills; having collected three marks, he can now briefly use the Crimson King's demonic form.

However, his current power only allows him to summon his true form into a bubble-like world from that unseen higher dimension for three seconds.

All he did was use the power of the Crimson King once in those three seconds.

As his true demonic nature, Tsugumi has a certain grasp of the power of the Crimson King, and the source of this power comes from the ultimate malice of a higher narrative.

He represents opposing forces, embodies the 'ultimate boss behind the scenes' and the 'driving force of negative plot,' and is one of the fundamental forces driving the narrative forward.

This ability can amplify any kind of evil, thereby acquiring the corresponding character's personality and power. Chaos, disorder, anti-rationality, and anti-authoritarianism are the sources of its ability.

In short, for Tsugumi, who was using this power for the first time, this ability was very simple.

The power of the 'opposite'.

Extracting the corresponding aspect from the story of the corresponding character in the corresponding world, as long as it is related to it, can summon the opposing force.

Every story contains both positive and negative symbols. They each represent a part of the 'fundamental force' that drives the story.

Good is a fundamental force, and so is evil. To give an analogy, in the EVA story that Tsugumi intervened in, Shinji Ikari, who became the Titan of Light, represents the fundamental force of good, while the evil Titan that SEELE transformed into represents the fundamental force of evil.

They are omnipresent, driving the story forward. No story can be driven by only one side, because there is conflict to create a story, and development to ensure its continuation. This has nothing to do with human good or evil, but only with the narrative itself.