Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

“You can’t just step in here,” Sakuma Sakura said, tugging at Karin’s face to wake him up. “I’ve made my bento and put it next to the microwave. Don’t take the wrong one, Karin’s. Hers has sakura shrimp, and yours has tomato fish. Also, tell me what you want for dinner.”

"Anything is fine, you won't eat me alive." Jun Sakuma tried to walk around her to brush his teeth, but found that his wife childishly jumped to the side and stood in front of him.

“Then I’ll go see if the mackerel is sold out. If I can find some, I can try the new recipe…” Sakura Sakuma opened her arms, her soft hair brushing against her cheek as she turned her head slightly. She pursed her lips and said to her husband, “Jun.”

Junya Sakuma smiled and gave him a big hug: "Yeah, what you're wearing is a bit pungent."

The latter lightly stepped on his foot with the shoe on: "Honestly, don't say such embarrassing things when you're going out for a hug."

"Okay, okay."

"You won't have tomato fish tomorrow."

"Don't do this! I'm the most beautiful, gentle, intelligent, and wonderful cherry blossom in the world..."

"Hmph, if you put any more effort into praising me, I'll change it to chestnuts with a carp."

When Sakura is at home, the air seems to be filled with a warm and sweet atmosphere, and the house doesn't feel cold even without the heating on. When Jun Sakuma comes home from work, he always hears a "Welcome home."

Although they have been married for many years and Karin is now of elementary school age, the two still maintain some of the little habits they had when they were dating—such as hugging before going out, where the other person opens their arms and the other understands perfectly.

However, it's different from when you're deeply in love.

At least back then, Jun Sakuma wouldn't have said things like "the fragrance is too strong," and Sakura Sakuma wouldn't have stepped on his toes while hugging him.

This has become a "ritual" or a "habit" for them.

Now, it was Sakura Sakuma who took the initiative to open her arms to Jun Sakuma. One of her hooks rested on his chest, and she carefully commanded it not to move, while the other hook embraced the giant's body.

With her sharp fingertips curled up, she only dared to loosely grasp the other person with her wrist.

Beelzebub's will weakened as his body was destroyed, and Sakura Sakuma, who was used to disrupt the "Earthlings who bewitched Samuel," finally gained the authority to barely control the body.

While she couldn't make the "demon" attack the person who was driving it, she could at least stop the "demon" from moving.

In her view, this period of time was like a chaotic, dream-within-a-dream slumber.

She couldn't remember many things, and her mind worked extremely slowly; she didn't even recall her parents' and Shota's names for a long time. She only knew that she seemed to be constantly wandering around, following some kind of creature in search of what she needed.

She kept muttering about Karin and Sakuma Jun, but eventually she couldn't even remember why she was muttering about them or who the owners of those two names were.

"To go to their side," after much wandering, human consciousness has nothing else left.

The so-called "River of Three Crossings" is just a human legend. There is no such thing in this world. The dead are not reincarnated, and there are no "restless vengeful spirits".

When the sun rises the next day, this wisp of consciousness will dissipate in the morning light.

Named "Sakuma Sakura," she corresponds to the mother of Sakuma Karin, the wife of Sakuma Jun, and the daughter of the Koike family. She will only exist in the memories of her living soul, awaiting her final farewell.

Muchini discovered this wisp of consciousness that was about to dissipate, and Sakura Sakuma's last remnants were preserved and incorporated into Beelzebub's recovery materials.

She tried awkwardly to convey messages to Jun Sakuma, but could only say short, rambling things, and even disturbed him because she was too anxious.

She only briefly regained consciousness when the light particles soaked into the grappling hook and the warm energy was absorbed into her body.

Jun Sakuma, her husband, is right in front of her right now.

"When you leave home, give me a hug."

This was probably the last hug.

The "Alien Beast" leaned over, embraced the giant's drooping head, and gently pulled the enemy from a moment ago into its arms.

Her husband must miss her very much, just as she has always wanted to say goodbye to him properly.

Yes, clinging to the unyielding desire that lingers in Sakura Sakuma's consciousness, is to properly say goodbye to her family.

Although only her husband was there, she felt no regret.

If her parents, Shota, and Karin were here, she would be too scared to know how to hide her alien beast body.

A "partner" is someone who can completely accept you when you're at your most vulnerable, someone you don't need to hide from or be afraid of. Sakura Sakuma believes that Jun Sakuma will accept her as she is now.

Therefore, she commanded the "demon's" body to embrace the fallen person of light.

Two enormous figures knelt face to face. The “demon” who had just been fighting to the death with the other had now become the support of the people of light.

Sakura Sakuma opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Because only half of her jawbone remained, she could only gently rest her mutilated head against his neck, just like back then in the cherry blossom-strewn riverside corridor, when she hummed a song with Jun Sakuma as they watched the wind blow the petals and the river flow quietly.

She believed that at this moment, Junya Sakuma must also be recalling the blissful days they spent together, just like her.

Despite Sakura Sakuma being in a mutated body and Jun Sakuma being in a dark space riddled with cracks, there was no gentle breeze or drizzle around them, but instead, a semi-lava ground still emitting white smoke.

Muchini reverted to his clay-sculpted state, his eyes reflecting the figures embracing each other. He would occasionally let out a cold laugh, but the next second, he would tug at the corners of his mouth, his strained expression appearing somewhat unsteady.

Beelzebub no longer moved, and only a faint afterglow remained in the giant's eyes. The timer was encased in a claw that could cut through iron like mud, and a red light flashed, staining the blade that was so close at hand with a streak of blood.

Tick, tick.

The light particles of blood fell onto the ground between them.

Jun Sakuma lowered his head, tears falling onto the cracked ground.

“I’m leaving now, Jun,” he seemed to hear his wife’s voice: “Take good care of Karin, she likes sweets, don’t let her eat too much sugar.”

"Yes." Jun Sakuma replied woodenly, his voice like a migratory bird that had lost its way, wandering aimlessly in the space.

“I really have to go now, Jun, stop daydreaming,” Sakura Sakuma said. “Would you mind seeing me off?”

Just like how Jun Sakuma was so eager to pursue her back then, she tried her best to get close to Jun Sakuma, but she could only keep this body in place.

Years of tacit understanding allowed Jun Sakuma to grasp the meaning behind her words.

He raised his hand with trembling hands. He should have smiled during the final farewell, but he was so reluctant to leave that his expression looked like he was crying.

"Come on, say goodbye." Sakura Sakuma smiled relaxedly, comforting him in a gentle voice.

The giant raised his hand, and the remaining energy gathered at his fingertips.

You lie buried beneath the earth, your bones turned to dust; I, on earth, remain with my head covered in snow.

Jun Sakuma's soul was already half in the cherry blossoms.

When it withers, it goes with it. He didn't want to answer his wife's question, but Sakura walked with difficulty to his side, and he should also convey words that could warm Sakura's heart.

He said, "Sakura, I love you."

Like a claw piercing the chest of the one of light, the hand gathering silver light also embedded itself into the other's body along the skin that had been burned multiple times and had not yet been repaired.

Two plumes of stardust bloomed freely against the backdrop of the deep night, swirling and rising into the sky.

"How cheesy," the alien beast's body gradually became transparent, and Sakura Sakuma's voice became ethereal: "Jun, take my share and accompany Karin as she grows up, otherwise I will never see you in my dreams again, so that you can't see me even if you want to."

Jun Sakuma looked up and watched as the azure light band merged into the vortex of gathering dark clouds.

Words spoken within the consciousness space naturally wouldn't travel to the outside. Samuel, fearing an attack from Muchini, had maintained his gigantic form until his last vestiges of consciousness remained. No matter how loudly Sakuma Jun shouted, those outside wouldn't hear him.

But at this moment, he used all his strength, desperately straining his voice, hoping that Sakura could hear him. His cherry blossoms could carry endless longing, so that they would not be lonely when they left, nor desolate when they departed.

When the flowers bloom next year, he can take Kaori to walk along the river where the cherry blossoms have fallen, and point out the bench where the two of them named her.

He was hunched over like a taut shrimp, every word seeming to spring from his very soul: "I'm going to visit your grave! I'm going to dream of you!"

You must read the letter I'm giving you carefully! Even if I become an old man, you can't dislike me!

"Your heart is with me, and my heart is with you... Sakura, don't say 'goodbye,' we—will never be apart!"

Chapter Sixty-Five: Deception

Muchini was bewildered.

After subconsciously activating the vortex to gather Beelzebub's power, he no longer glanced at the person of light or the earthlings, and stumbled back.

My mind was a jumbled mess, a jumble of threads tangled together.

Was Beelzebub's body bound by the will of the woman who was about to disappear?

He never expected that his method of interfering with Jun Sakuma, intending to make him hinder Samuel's operations and thus prove his weakness, would turn around and help his enemy just when it was about to succeed.

What exactly is that?

More importantly, a strong inner strength is essential.

He suddenly remembered what Samuel had once told him.

At that time, he was obsessed with power, believing that with the "Order of the Light Chaser," he could sweep away all the conspiracies of the "evil gods" and bring happiness and peace to Vitamori.

[If your heart doesn't match your abilities, you'll be devoured by the monster within.]

The woman named Sakura Sakuma, though inside the body of a monster, still resembled a human being.

And what about yourself?

Muchini looked down at the black robe that covered his entire body; beneath the fabric lay a skeletonized body.

This is who he is now. Before that, when the Vitamori people first embarked on their journey to find a new home, he was a "hero" on whom his people placed their hopes, with a young and powerful body.

Dahti praised his sapphire blue eyes, and Aunt Molly envied his thick, seaweed-like black hair.

As the "son of the gods," he was obligated to protect his people until they found a new planet with crystal-like oceans and the gentle glow of their mother star, and he would stop at nothing to achieve this.

He certainly wouldn't care about the other races that had also escaped from Vitamori, especially since there was a conflict of faith between them.

The tribesmen obtained the most abundant resources for survival, but Muchini gradually lost his power. The Medal of the Light Chaser no longer responded to him, and he watched helplessly as the colors on it gradually faded, leaving only a trace of energy.

Daheti was the only one who knew that he had lost his powers.

He sought help from the intelligent young girl.