Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

“Jellyfish?” he murmured.

In the distance, many jellyfish that look very similar, or even identical, float in the sky, as if people are at the bottom of the sea, and the clouds are on the surface of the sea, with the jellyfish rising and falling in between, leisurely extending their floating tendrils.

Chapter Nineteen: Turning into Sand

"for you."

Kinoshita Kei felt a weight in his hand. He instinctively took it, and when he looked again, Aiba Yu was nowhere to be seen.

"He... is going to fight monsters?" Kinoshita Kei and the salted fish exchanged glances.

……

At the foot of the Statue of Liberty in Tokyo.

People were resting in twos and threes on the surrounding steps and seats.

Hitomi Onodera, a regular at Kinoshita Cafe, has become friends with the cafe's fat cat named "Snow Top" because of the seemingly endless supply of cat food and cat treats in her bag.

The moment she walks in, no matter which table the cat is under, it will meow a few times and run to her feet. I just don't know if it sees her as some kind of cafeteria lady shaking a ladle, or a fully automatic feeding machine.

It was lunchtime, and as usual, she prepared the toys for "Snowy Top" to play with before heading to the cafe. Because the cat was a bit too fat, she took less food and carried an extra detachable whack-a-mole toy in a plastic bag, intending to give it to Grandma Kinoshita.

But just like when she encountered Gobu halfway through her journey last time, her plan didn't go so smoothly this time either.

She was walking along the road next to the nearest landmark, a warm breeze blowing gently, surrounded by the sounds of conversation, both loud and soft. To most people, this would have seemed like a noisy environment, but she maintained a smile throughout, as if she were enjoying it.

The breeze brought a comfortable touch; she hadn't enjoyed such gentle air and the soothing wind in a long time, so she lingered there.

Just as little butterflies were fluttering in her heart, the wind blew sand, not to mention her face, her hair was immediately mixed with sand that was hard to wash off.

"Sandstorms here too?" She looked blankly in the direction the wind was coming from, where there was a base.

The base was empty, and the crowd screamed as the calm lake turned into a torrent of boiling water, rushing outwards in all directions.

She knew this road so well that she knew what originally existed on the base.

The sculpture is gone!

Hitomi Onodera heard a rustling sound, which many people around her also heard. It sounded like countless silkworms were eating mulberry leaves, but unlike the others, the ones being eaten were nearby buildings.

From top to bottom, the buildings visibly and rapidly turned to sand. Before most people could even inform their families of the anomaly, starting with the statue, the four buildings had already become sand. Before the monster appeared, no one would have imagined that a desert could suddenly appear in a coastal city.

Local authorities responded quickly, and evacuation notices were broadcast throughout the city. Traffic police were already rushing to designated locations to set up roadblocks, allowing people to leave but not enter.

"It's all...it's all turned to sand..." As Hitomi Onodera fled with the crowd, she glanced back. The lush trees and graceful flowers had all lost their color in the face of this sand. The remaining ruins, not yet completely eroded by sand, lay scattered within. If their style were more ancient, they might have been mistaken for the legendary Loulan Kingdom in the desert.

She felt all the noise of people fade away, leaving only the desolation and loneliness of the desert in her ears.

"So many people... why would something like this happen?" Hitomi Onodera looked up, the jellyfish-like monsters blotting out the sky. There were many of them, everywhere in this area, sometimes appearing here, sometimes three blocks away, and then returning here in the blink of an eye.

Mezad lashed out with its soft, tendril-like tentacles, and the shadows beneath people's feet vanished rapidly, replaced by larger ones. To the fleeing people, it didn't seem like the monsters were catching up with them, but rather that the seemingly ever-increasing number of monsters had finally piled up behind them.

They raced against the rapidly spreading desert, panting heavily, along long streets and through alleys. No one knew how much longer they would have to run. Those who were exhausted were left behind, their screams drowned out by the sound of silkworms gnawing at their bones.

Everything happened so suddenly, it seemed unreal and surreal. No one dared to look back, but the dust swirling in the wind was telling them it was real.

Aiba Yu walked through the crowds and the sea of ​​sand. People walking in the opposite direction glanced at him in surprise, but then lowered their heads and continued to flee under the urging of the crisis.

Indeed, Aiba Yu solidified his physical form once more. The jellyfish-like monster gave him a strange feeling, as if it were something between reality and illusion. The last time Aiba Yu saw such a strange monster was the invisible alien beast Gruklem, which was a creature that manipulated phases. To defeat it, he had to find the phase it was in, either by breaking in or by dragging it out.

These jellyfish looked numerous, like a swarm of monsters to onlookers, but to Aiba Yuu, they were all identical, practically clones.

Sticking together. Logically speaking, even the most similar monsters of the same kind would have different auras, so Aiba Yu guessed that these jellyfish should only have one original body.

He needed to get closer to confirm which of the jellyfish was the real thing, which was a projection, or whether the real thing was hidden somewhere and all that was in front of him was just an illusion.

[Coordinates (414, c3), abnormal heat movement unit detected, database match successful, unknown life form number two.]

The sound of machinery echoed in the command center of Ariel base.

Unknown life form number one, a heat source discovered underground the day after Gob appeared.

Unknown life form number two appeared almost simultaneously with number one, and later approached the heat source of the Ariel base.

“Sure enough, he’s back!” Georgie said to Atsuko Sasaki, “You lost. I told you my dream prediction was true. Here’s a piece of chewing gum.”

"He was just caught again. You're being too optimistic. Whether he's friend or foe can't be determined by just one incident. We still don't know his purpose in approaching the base." Sasaki Atsuko was puzzled by Takayama Gamu's childish shout that "he will reappear to deal with the crisis." Where did he get such a conclusion? Based on a naive intuition?

"The Lightning Team has reached the target location. The area within about 1000 meters of the commercial street has been desertified, and the affected area is still expanding." Kajio Katsumi circled over the desert in his FighterSS fighter jet. He could only see black dots of people fleeing on the outer perimeter, while in the area already covered by sand, there was only deathly silence: "Unknown life form, we don't have it... What is it?"

A beam of light pierced through the storm of sand and gravel, and the canopy of the fighter jet reflected the trajectory of the light arc, as beautiful as the crescent moon gliding across the palm of a dancer's folding fan.

Aiba Yu stared intently at the menacing jellyfish, his pupils gleaming in the light. No sand could get close to his body; everything he didn't want to touch was repelled by an invisible shield two meters away. Tiny particles of light emanated from his body, being thrown into the wind by their owner at an ever-increasing speed.

He was close enough to "see" them clearly. These jellyfish were all shadows, their auras perfectly matched. There were traces of space being distorted. In Aiba Yu's eyes, those distorted spaces overlapped, and the monster's main body resided at the center of the spatial distortion, spiraling outwards to countless landing points. These landing points were located on the outside, so to people, it appeared to be omnipresent.

Chapter Twenty: The Unforeseen Path

[Desertification is progressing very rapidly. Centered on the commercial street, the affected radius is approximately 1000 meters. (Please turn the camera to the upper right corner...) What appears in the footage is the monster causing the city's desertification. The GUARD is searching for countermeasures, and combat troops have been deployed. Citizens, please do not panic. This is a report from the front lines.]

"Ugh... Reiko, can you please get the difference between Rinbun and Rinbun?" Inoue Rinbun cut off the camera, put away the camera, and ran to the broadcast van while complaining, "You're facing a huge audience this time! My name was called wrong again!"

Reiko Yoshii grabbed the microphone and hurriedly ran to the car, saying, "Don't worry about things now! If we don't hurry, the sand will come flying!"

To capture the most cutting-edge footage, the three-person KCB reporter team pushed the broadcast van extremely close, so much so that Reiko Yoshii had to pack up and leave after explaining the situation. Although they encouraged citizens with their professional ethics of not causing unnecessary panic, they were unsure whether the guard could handle those ghostly jellyfish-like things overhead.

The commotion caused by the hyperspace fluctuation monster Mezad spread from the shopping district where the Statue of Liberty is located in Tokyo to Jonan University. The "front line" continues to advance to other places. At first, the distance was relatively far, but now it is clear to the naked eye that the school has issued evacuation notices for the collapsed buildings.

Kinoshita Kei has always had a strong sense of crisis. The rule for transmigrators is to think of an escape route before making any decisions. Fortune favors the bold and dangerous, but that has nothing to do with a good-for-nothing like him. If a poison circle were to fall from the sky, being able to survive would be more important than anything else.

For example, while his classmates were still gossiping or watching the spectacle, he had already run to the parking lot with his salted fish, planning to slip away if things went wrong. He walked through a row of painted cars, his silhouette reflected in the distance against a sky filled with jellyfish.

At the end of the parking lot was a place for storing bicycles and electric scooters. Kinoshita Kei found his newly bought mode of transportation. Just then, an evacuation notice was broadcast. He stuffed the salted fish into the basket in front of the car, as happy as a squirrel that had found its neighbor's grain storehouse.

"Hey~ I'm riding my beloved little electric scooter, I'm not worried at all," Kinoshita Kei turned the handlebars and darted out of the school gate: "Passengers, please sit tight and hold on. Saltyfish King, Saltyfish King, don't look at those jellyfish, you'll get a sty if you look at them too much."

"I wasn't looking at it, I was looking at Musar!" The fish's mouth opened and closed.

“I understand you’re calling him Musa… oops, Samuel,” Kinoshita Kei said in a low voice. “Trust him. He’s been through at least two instances. When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up. If he’s down, there’s always Gaia, the chosen one of the planes. And if Gaia is down, Agul will come out to avenge her husband…”

"If Agul is lying down, then there's even less to worry about, because usually at times like this, the protagonist will get a new buff. You just wait for Gaia and Agul to get up, each with a V2 buff, and drown the thing sent by the Destruction Summoning Entity in the toilet with a few bangs—hanging it on a street lamp is also an option."

He spoke as he rode his electric scooter, taking a shortcut, and suddenly emerged from the alley.

The sudden stop almost knocked the salted fish off its feet.

"Be careful, you two!" Kinoshita Kei thought he had bumped into two students, but when he realized they were two girls, he softened his tone slightly: "Are you alright?"

"N-nothing." One of the female students, wearing a pleated skirt, nodded blankly, whether startled by the electric scooter that suddenly appeared or by the monster.

Seeing that no one was hurt, Kinoshita Kei turned the car around and tried to drive away: "Hurry up and run. You guys are lucky to be close to the school gate. Those people watching the fun on the playground will have to practice breaking through the encirclement first."

"Yes, thank you." The girl in the pleated skirt had a pleasant voice.

At that moment, another girl reached out and grabbed his arm: "Please wait a minute!"

"What do you want?" Kinoshita Kei guessed that the girl probably wanted him to give them a ride, but the electric scooter only had one seat on the back. He wasn't the type to act like a hero just because of a few words. If he were driving a car, he might be willing to give someone a ride, but he didn't have that option right now, so it was best to protect himself.

"Can I bring someone with me?"

Kinoshita Kei glanced at the salted fish, then at the girl's height: "Can you sit in the bicycle basket?"

"No, I wanted to ask you to take her with you first," the girl said, pointing to her companion in the pleated skirt. "She's not as strong as me, she can't run far. If your car can still carry people, could you please take her with you?"

"what?"

Kinoshita Kei was still in a daze, while a melodramatic scene had already begun to unfold before his eyes: "You go," "No, I won't go," "You go quickly," "I'll go with you," "You go first, you idiot," "It's okay, I want to go with you."

"That's great," Kinoshita Kei thought, watching the two girls tugging at each other. He wondered if one of them was named "Sayuri."

"What are you two doing! You could have run several miles by now if you had spent this time being all lovey-dovey!" Kinoshita Kei stomped one foot on the ground and the other on the pedal, all he was missing was a cigarette. He should have changed out of his casual clothes into a vest and shorts, then he would have looked like an old man pointing out the world from the alleyway.

I've seen plenty of those quick-witted old guys back when Kinoshita Kei was still Mu Xiajing. They usually like to be stingy and calculating, and all their enthusiasm is spent on analyzing domestic and international situations, playing chess, and gossiping on the streets. But if there's a year when the rainfall exceeds the standard and the neighborhood floods, they'll always be the first to carry the elderly out through the water. Their shaky beer bellies can't stop others from praising them as heroes.

Heroes are usually rough around the edges, so if they were to encounter a situation like this, with two young girls arguing...

"Shut up, all of you!" Kinoshita Kei got out of the car and grabbed the loud-voiced man: "Can you ride a bicycle?"

"Ah, yes."

"If you can, then take your girlfriend and get out!"

"That's not us..."

"Female friend" is simply called "girlfriend"!

Kinoshita Kei gave up his spot and carried the salted fish down. The two girls looked at him as he scooped up air, their eyes filled with a strange expression.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a lunatic before? I'm physically stronger than you, but I traded my brains for it, so you'd better get lost!" Kinoshita Kei shoved the hesitant and clingy student in the pleated skirt directly onto the back seat of the car.

He wanted to emulate the dashing swordsmen in period dramas, who, after saddled someone onto a horse, would whip its rump without a word, shouting "Don't worry about me, just go!" Leaving safety for others, while he himself would seize his sword and wander alone in the vast world, the chilling wind whipping his clothes, the blade reflecting the soft red silk, and the tip of the sword dripping with the tears of a beautiful woman.

But there were no gleaming horses here, nor was he a renowned knight-errant, so he could only kick the back tire of the electric scooter, getting sand all over his shoes in the process.

Pito snuggled in his arms and whined, "Well done, Jing! You're definitely a good kid I've always thought of."

"I only know you're calling me, I don't understand anything else," Kinoshita Kei said, shooing the two girls away with a sigh of relief. As he took a step, he couldn't help but start making a mournful face again: "Dear passengers, your little electric scooter has become a walking bus. Please hold on tight and pray that our legs are strong enough..."

He glanced back at the jellyfish swarm and said to Pito, "King Salted Fish, I once heard a saying that happiness is 'cats eating fish, dogs eating meat, and Ultraman fighting monsters,' but now I'm not happy at all. When a TV station interviews me, I have to answer that I'm not happy."

Pito tried to comfort him, but then he heard him say, "When are you going to study the structure of cars? Next time a monster charges at you, you can 'snap' transform into a car. I don't ask for much, just something like Megatron. Then we can drive Gundams and run away at will. That would be amazing!"

Pito: "The tower? What tower?"

Chapter Twenty-One: Living a Life That's Hateful

Yu Aiba deeply resents the enemies who manipulate space.