Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Above the reservoir.

The giant's shell was blown away like sand by the wind, and he saw the monster's true form: scales gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, a tail with spines, legs and claws shaped like those of a predator, armor covering the lower legs, and sharp claws above. Only the human face was recognizable, though he did not want to be recognized. His eyes were tightly closed, and almost black blood rolled down from them.

Having finally escaped the "monster" form, now encountering the very source of that power and being forcibly brought back—no one would be happy about that. Jun Sakuma saw Samuel raise his claw, only to have it hover in mid-air before it could strike.

“That’s much better to look at,” the shadowy figure leaned in, his sharp claws, capable of severing hair with a single blow, hovering above his head. But he didn’t care, only reaching out to wipe the blood from his face. “I’m lenient with things that look good. If you pay the interest, I might let you off the hook.”

"roll."

"There are so many intelligent beings, why are humans so... annoying?"

He was still pondering how to handle the situation when he suddenly turned his gaze away and looked at the seemingly calm water beneath his feet.

"boom--!"

The lake water was cleaved by an invisible blade, and Goro Mujin thought he was going to be dragged to death by the dark Mephistopheles puppet, but to his surprise, the puppet stopped moving when just a beam of light shone on it.

The opponent collapsed like a real puppet, sprawling on the dried-up lakebed. A wall of water, blocked by something, parted on either side, and shadows emanated from his body, flying towards the center of the black flames.

At the same time, the "water" of the River of Oblivion suddenly exploded!

Time seemed to slow down, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the ball of "water." The dragon snake fled like a torrent of water, all because of the giant standing in the center.

Nexus? Jun Sakuma wasn't sure. Half of his body was still black, except for his head and right side, which were completely silver-white. To be precise, a completely silver-white phantom was shrouding him—the change was significant, and he could only be recognized by the wing-shaped red crystal on his chest.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The shadowy figure heard laughter coming from the annoying "thief." The "thief" said, "Nexus has won. You've lost another ally."

“Ah, of course it’s heartbreaking, heartbreaking. We can’t escape World War I, Noah.” The shadowy figure did use the word “heartbreaking,” but no one could detect any emotion in it.

"What are you so happy about?" The black flames surged, and the struggling dragon was instantly eroded, turning into the perfect fuel. Like oil being poured into a raging fire, it suddenly soared hundreds of meters high.

Jun Sakuma caught a glimpse of a hazy silhouette amidst the licking, swirling flames. It was also a giant, with red light emanating from its chest, and something slowly unfolding behind it.

“You’re going to die eventually,” he said, his words seemingly carrying a magical quality. The huge book turned to the next page, and he pondered for a moment: “Hmm… You owe a lot of interest. Not only did you borrow my power but you didn’t repay it. You even dared to take more. What greedy humans.”

Dark clouds gathered again under the clear sky, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, with a pitch-black hole at their center that appeared to suck away all the light. Black flames, carrying the dragon-like creature, poured into that center, and the phantom, which Dark Lucifer called "Noah," took a step forward, instantly turning the large area of ​​shadow into melting snow under the sunlight.

Half of the reservoir had evaporated, and the collapsed top floor of the third base was exposed. However, they no longer needed to worry about drowning. Water walls surrounded the base, with the water and sky reflecting each other on one side and the lake bottom exposed on the other. The entire third base was enveloped in the gentle breeze from the outside.

The silvery-white phantom was unstable; it took a step forward but hesitated to continue.

"His brain is about to explode. Do you want to settle things with me now?" Dark Lucifer saw through the vessel of the phantom at a glance: Ishibori Mitsuhiko's good colleague, Komon Kazuki.

This young man always does the unexpected. First, he broke free from Faust's puppet, and then he dared to jump into the River of Oblivion alone. Didn't he realize that it was a place where humans could go down? It's truly a blessing from his ancestors that he wasn't turned into a fool by those almost endless negative memories.

Dark Lucifer does not want to fight Noah here, even if it is just a phantom that has not yet materialized.

He needed a little more time to fuse the energy from the River of Oblivion with the power of Dark Mephisto. If Zagi's corruption hadn't been interrupted, he would have been added to the mix as well—unfortunately, some individuals among higher intelligent beings always managed to produce reactions that surprised him enough to warrant taking notes.

"That's great," he thought. If he could get his hands on it so easily, he wouldn't be Noah.

He didn't know how many years he had fought back and forth with this persistent First Messenger. The other party would always resort to violence at the slightest disagreement, which he disliked immensely. In contrast, he found it much more interesting to descend into countless realms as an avatar, observe the habits of higher intelligent beings, and make a deal regarding "wishes."

The book in the void, growing from a thin booklet into a massive volume, is the culmination of countless years of accumulation. Noah diminished his enjoyment but also introduced new variables, which piqued his curiosity.

Now he should put away his curiosity a little and start preparing seriously for another "meeting".

While we're at it, let's deal with this human who stole the power of his clone.

Chapter 165 The Dawn Star

"Bright star, son of the morning! Why have you fallen from heaven?"

“I will ascend to the heavens, I will raise my throne high... I will ascend above the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

……

Aiba Yu can see again.

The grayness of the perceived world was redistributed with color, but the surrounding scenery was not very pleasant.

The sea, with its iron-cast waves, was extremely cold, black and frigid. However, there was no floating ice, so Aiba Yu didn't doubt that he had returned to the "Nest of the Beginning".

The island's rocks are somewhat brittle, revealing layered textures, with occasional pebbles being pounded and rolled down by the waves, splashing up tiny droplets of water.

There are no such islands in the city where the Third Base is located. They seem to be telling Aiba Yu: You have arrived in an unfamiliar place and just said goodbye to your teammates. Maybe that was a farewell. What happens next depends on luck.

Aiba Yu even wondered if "Gen" had felt the same way back then. He seemed to walk away nonchalantly, disregarding life and death, but when the wheel of fate really came crashing down on him, he would unconsciously stare at the rumbling axle, his mind blank, his thoughts wandering aimlessly.

The dragon roams in the sky and underwater, everywhere in sight. Black flames rise extremely high, ascending from the ground to the iron-gray dome, and then crash down with a roaring tail of flames. The dragon moves through these flames.

They surround a central figure: the blue-eyed master, with four wings on his back. He leans relaxed on his throne, a heavy ancient book open before him, and occasionally a dragon darts through the flames, turning into a wisp of smoke that clings to his body.

A black, short sword-shaped object hovered beside his hand. Aiba Yu had seen it before; it was...

Dark Evolver.

"Ah, your eyes have grown back so quickly," the person in the room shifted their gaze, "How much of my worthless clone did you devour?"

“If you’re talking about that lizard hiding underwater, he begged me for mercy, saying he wanted half the power of the ‘Primal Nest’.”

The people in the room stared intently at him. He was still half-human, half-monster, his dark scales inheriting the appearance of his doppelganger, the blood on his face dried and fused with the scales on his neck. But as he spoke those words, he seemed to transform again into a human who, having inherited the mark, carried the shadows of the mountains and trees on his back as he fled down the high cliff, hunting monsters like an assassin.

“Hmm, power,” Dark Lucifer directed the pages forward, pausing for a moment. “A common desire of intelligent beings. What a pathetic clone. You can take the highest power by killing him. Why would he think you would be willing to share it with him?”

He looked down and stopped at a line of text: “Oh, you failed to kill him. He escaped and revived in Vitamori.”

“Lingering on for a while,” Aiba said slowly, “and then died completely.”

Dark Lucifer showed no sign of anger, even though they were talking about his own alter ego, which still represented his dignity to some extent. Yet he truly seemed like an outsider, speaking as a bystander, the pages continuing to turn. The characters inside were incomprehensible to anyone, and didn't appear to be "written" on. If one waited a while, one would discover that the characters would change on their own.

The part he was seeing hadn't changed in a long time, and he slowly read it aloud, word by word:

"As a human being, you participate in war without distinguishing between friend and foe—anyone who becomes tainted by my power is your target."

"As a 'monster,' you foster the ambition of your kind, and many people die because of it."

“As the guide of the ‘son of God,’ you have failed in your duty, so he also regards me as a ‘god.’”

"Hmm...and the Yapool's light particle bioweapons."

As he spoke, the characters on the book emitted a bluish-gray mist, twisting and contorting like demons or ghosts formed from pent-up resentment. Aiba Yu looked at them one by one, his gaze gradually becoming calm. The "monster" had a high body temperature, and white mist swirled as its scales opened and closed, but his blood gradually cooled, simply because he recognized those "demons" and "ghosts," even though their faces had become ferocious.

Those were the people and monsters who died at his hands, as well as the targets he ordered to "clean up" or capture when he used them as weapons.

Dark Lucifer stood up, the gray mist dispersing with his movements as he walked over, the tides suddenly quieting down, leaving only the sound of his footsteps in the world.

"'The Medal of the Light Chaser,' you chase the light but will never become the light yourself. This posture suits you perfectly," he said, looking down as if an invisible door had closed, behind which boundless shadows filled the space. The fallen "Star of Dawn" spoke from his throne: "So... where did you 'steal' the posture of the Giant of Light?"

……

Jun Sakuma is back.

He was carrying Koike Shouta on his back, with an unfamiliar woman and Hirata Shintaro supporting Chiju Rei's "cousin" on either side of him. Another woman with round eyes and short hair was also following behind. Their blue and black uniforms almost made Horokusa and the others jump up.

"You, you, you, he, he, they..." Junpei stammered, waving his finger in front of Saijo Nagi's eyes, causing the latter to frown and her sharp eyes to shoot out again.

"Get some hot towels to wipe Komon's sweat. No matter what, we need to wait for him to wake up first." Jun Sakuma told them to put Komon Kazuki on the sofa first, and then carried Shota to the room. Shintaro Hirata, having learned of the attack on the Third Base, ran out of the hospital and silently followed him all the way.

“TLT believes he has been dead for a long time,” Shintaro Hirata tried to comfort him. “But you see, he’s practically asleep now. Maybe the Dark Giant’s host is different. I mean, he might just be sleeping for a while and he’ll wake up eventually.”

Jun Sakuma tucked the seemingly asleep man into the blanket. His joints were still flexible, just as the TLT researchers had wondered—despite being declared "dead" for several days, there was no rigor mortis. Jun Sakuma didn't know what was going on. Perhaps the enemy who controlled Dark Mephisto still harbored the intention of reactivating the puppet, but he had run into his own lair, merging with the power he had just acquired, and the puppet's strings had been broken. He was just waiting for his return, and the puppet would once again serve its lord.

But no matter what, Jun Sakuma thought, Shota is still alive, isn't he? Even as a puppet. Maybe once they defeat the guy who's been manipulating him, Shota Koike, as a human, will be able to return.

The two watched him for a while before going downstairs. Komon Kazuki's breathing had become steady, but he was still sweating, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing, probably still haunted by the memories in the River of Oblivion.

“What are you doing here, Night Raid Team? You have GPS trackers on you, right? Remove them right now! I’m telling you—if you dare to tip off others and let them arrest you, I’ll kick you out immediately,” Baolu Cao stared warily at the woman who had been stern-faced from the start. Seeing Sakuma Jun come down, he added, “How’s the situation? You went to find your brother-in-law. Why did you bring back the TLT people as well?”

Jun Sakuma opened his mouth, unsure where to begin. Too much information was piling up on his lips, and he felt utterly confused as he tried to speak.

"Where's Samuel?" Jun Himeya's gaze swept over the Night Raid uniforms, lingering on Kazuki Komon for a moment before turning to ask him.

Upon hearing this, Jun Sakuma closed his eyes.

With a leaden grip, he slowly pulled out the stone-like object: "'Aiba Yu' has gone to the enemy's lair, 'Samuel' is here."

Chapter 166 The Light That Could Not Be Chased

Inside the Light Chaser's Medal space from several days ago.

Jun Sakuma wiped the snow water off his face and then wiped away the snow powder that was about to fall down his collar: "Hiss—if you bury me alive, where are you going to find a reliable human host again!"

Aiba Yu directed the remaining snowballs to be piled to one side, finally ending the reaction training. He was used to Sakuma Jun's self-proclaimed reliability: "Hmm, Himeya is pretty good."

"Come on, can't you let people have a few more good days?" Jun Sakuma said suddenly while shaking off some snow powder. "You can't keep a secret at all, so don't try to lie."

Aiba Yu's body stiffened slightly, and his hands unconsciously tucked further into his sleeves.

The experienced policeman stared at his expression, then glanced at his hand movements out of the corner of his eye: "Do you think I'm blind? I've interrogated more suspects than you've killed monsters. Confess now, or we'll get you another one."

The wind and snow from the Arctic Ocean blew from afar, and the distant cliffs were so striking that it was easy to mistakenly believe the wind was coming from there. They howled and whistled, as if someone were standing on the cliff playing a flute, the sound spreading and diffusing with distance, the melodious notes eventually turning into a low, indistinct hum.

With his back to the wind and snow, Aiba Yu finally lowered his head under his piercing gaze and slowly rolled up his sleeves.

“Dark Mephisto, when you absorbed my energy, you sent something that originated from the same source as the Primordial Nest,” scales grew on his forearm, hard and covered with small thorns. Aiba Yu clenched his fist, pale snow brushing against the black scales: “My power comes from it, and I cannot refuse its influence, so… I am going to become a ‘monster’ again.”

“You are not a ‘monster’.” Jun Sakuma looked at him sincerely. He had seen enough memories of “Tatsumi” in his dreams. At first, he was horrified that humans grew claws like beasts and eventually lost their rationality and became completely beasts. Later, after seeing many small alien beasts, he rarely felt horrified anymore.

He believed that as long as he considered himself a human being in his heart and actions, what did it matter what his appearance was? There were plenty of real monsters who looked like humans but had ghosts inside, and it was none of his business.

Then Jun Sakuma continued, "You are an Ultra Warrior who has protected many people."

But Aiba Yu turned his gaze away, unsure whether he was laughing at Sakuma Jun for being too serious, or at himself: "'The Medal of the Light Chaser' was a gift from one person."

"...Given?" Isn't this a human form's transformation device? How could someone else give it to you?