Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

The giants stood atop the mountain, gazing at the city swallowed by dreams and mist.

The city was in an uproar; everyone was witnessing the scene they had been anticipating, and they danced with joy. Occasionally, some people would look around with fearful eyes, and when they realized they couldn't wake anyone else, they would turn their gaze to the giant in the distance.

A wind howled atop the mountain, and the giant silently looked back.

“We’re leaving,” a giant bent down and patted the monster’s head. “Do you want to come with us?”

[There are still people awake, don't abandon them.] The monster, with its molten gold-like eyes, lay motionless on the spot.

The giant couldn't understand the monster's words; he could only tell from its body language and years of tacit understanding that the monster was unwilling to move.

“I know you love it here, and you especially yearn for humanity, but they don’t need us anymore…” the giant whispered. “They chose the ‘dream’.”

"I'm not leaving, Soluka, you go by yourself." The sound of scales scraping rang out, and the monster stood more firmly on the mountaintop, its uneasy long tail held in its claws.

"Woof!" The enormous komainu ran to the monster's side and rubbed its thick fur against the cold scales.

"Don't stick out your tongue!" The monster turned its head and glared at it.

Soruka and the other giant laughed: "Geddy also intends to go with its master. If you change your mind..."

The monster suddenly sprang to its feet and rammed its head into the giant who was saying, "We cannot interfere with human choices."

Soruka wasn't angry. He hugged the monster's head and gently patted its back, saying, "Alright, I know. I can't let go of Paradia either. Will you... will you stay and guard the place where she rests?"

The scales that had been fluttering open in anger slowly calmed down. The giant released the monster, and its warm, luminous body departed. A cold wind swept through the monster's nostrils once more. It looked up as Solka stood up—truly a tall and reliable giant. No wonder Paradia called him "Big Guy."

It saw Solka's palm clench in front of the timer, and a blinding silver light burst forth, forcing the monster, whom Paradia called a "great monster," to squint its golden, candle-like eyes.

"Drip, drip, drip..."

The alarm sounded on the wind, drifting towards the cliffs on both sides, then swirling back.

Soruka lowered his hand, and in his palm was an oval stone sculpture-like object, its edges shimmering with a red light, thick like blood.

He had the "great monster" carry it in its mouth, and then patted its head: "You have always been different from ordinary monsters, and different from us. I can sense your emotions and feelings, but I can't understand your words—if you really want to stay, then take it with you."

"This was originally something we gave to the human host. We don't know if it will work on a monster, but I think you can do it."

The "great monster" looked up at the "big guy," just like when the village was attacked many years ago.

The destructive melody was about to engulf everything when the giant descended at the last moment.

He had his back to the white moon.

A warm breeze blew through the cold ruins, and the "great monster" stared up in a daze, remembering that ray of light forever.

But today, this ray of light is leaving. He entrusted a stone-carved object to the "Great Demon," crouching down as he said, "As long as your heart is turned towards the light, darkness cannot catch you. Remember the name of this transformation device; it is called..."

"The Merit of the Light Chaser".

Chapter Eleven: The Pyramids

"Where is that monster called Melba?"

The air force, including Fujisawa Sōsuke, was getting sleepy.

He crouched under the aircraft, holding his helmet, watching the ground crew make final checks back and forth. At first, he was still excited, his eyes wide with anticipation. But as the order to take off was delayed, he became so bored that he even started complaining that Melba was flying too slowly.

"It just passed Midway Island, and oceanographic observation ships and satellites have captured its trajectory," Ralph couldn't stand his lazy, dozing look any longer, so he grabbed his head and gave him a good rub: "Wake up! The predicted path is towards Japan!"

Fujisawa Sosuke struggled under his bear paws: "Let go! My head isn't a beehive! Melba is really coming this way?"

“How could it be fake? Maybe that guy’s target base has its engines warmed up yet? Go wash your face, we might be leaving soon,” Ralph shoved the rickety helmet back into his arms. “Keep your eyes open, or the captain will come back and beat you up.”

Fujisawa Sousuke muttered as he went to the restroom: "The captain is probably listening to information from the director, or the logistics and staff are arguing. He doesn't have time to scold me."

Unbeknownst to the air force members, Aiba Yu missed witnessing the chaotic battle between the information, logistics, and staff forces. He had already quietly left the base, heading in the direction the GUTS team had been scouting.

When discussing pyramids, many people think of them as products of Egyptian or Mayan culture. Craftsmen used manpower to pull logs and stack massive rocks weighing several tons together to build magnificent tombs or altars.

It is associated with mysticism and has a long history of bizarre and mysterious rumors and stories about the living and the dead, and secrets about gods and the sun and moon.

However, the location of the pyramids, as analyzed by Ye Rui, is not in any place that can be deduced from common sense.

"Yu Lian said the pyramids are in Japan, why have satellites never detected them? A place with giant stone statues shouldn't be like that..." Horii set off on the Flying Swallow II, and the location Nozue pointed out was actually in a mountain.

It's not exactly deserted; on the contrary, the mountain has been well-developed, with a suspension bridge over the ravine, and it's now a popular weekend getaway for residents of nearby cities.

Despite neglect and overgrown with weeds, hundreds or even thousands of people have passed through the so-called "location of the pyramids" over the years, yet not a single person has noticed anything, not even the urban rumors of ghost sightings!

Daigo listened to Horii's analysis through the PDI.

This highly intelligent representative in the team went on to say things like, "What's the use of calling ourselves the Earth Guard? I'd rather call myself Amaterasu. Maybe it's the work of extraterrestrial civilizations," and "Japan has pyramids? I'd be more inclined to believe you if you said the Jomon culture built a pyramid out of pottery." And so on.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't believe in these absurd prophecies or time machines—if time machines have been invented, why does that guy named "Youlian" talk like a religious person?

Giant stone statue? She said that a planet-destroying cannon buried in the mountains would match the style of the time machine, right?

But Daigo had a vague feeling that Yu Lian wasn't lying.

The time machine is real, the Earth Guard is real... and the Titans are real too.

"In short, instead of wasting this time, we should go back to the Mongolian Plains and investigate where that monster called Gorzan has gone," Horii concluded. "It's impossible for it to be there..."

The Flying Swallow 2 spacecraft lowered its altitude in preparation for landing.

The moment it pierced through the clouds, the magnificent building almost blinded everyone.

"There can't be gold, gold..." Horii opened his mouth, then exclaimed, "The pyramids!!!"

"Could it be that the energy fluctuations are being hidden in some way all the time?" Commander Zong Fangcheng almost had a heart attack when he saw the value on the instrument suddenly soar to the red line - this usually means that a missile with the equivalent of ten million tons of TNT has exploded head-on, but there is no missile here now, and Feiyan-2 is parked smoothly.

Before everyone stood only the pyramids, seemingly woven from the sunlight.

"Really?" Horii scratched his face.

Great scientists are always open to new ideas. When a fact exists that they cannot understand, it means that new work awaits them.

Horii decided to first set up radiation monitoring and analysis equipment on the spot to confirm that the existence of the pyramid would not have an adverse effect on the surrounding environment; otherwise, the first thing they would do was to notify the evacuation of the masses.

"Daigo!" Rena suddenly shouted, "Daigo, where are you going?! We still have equipment to move!"

"I think I saw someone. How reckless! How could he dare to venture into such an unknown place!" Daigo had already run off, leaving only his back view. His agile and swift movements made Horii envious.

It has to be said that since he came out of the grueling training in the air force, his spirit and energy have improved a lot. If he was a newcomer who had just become aware of the pressure when he first joined the Victory Team, then after the training, he was more composed and confident. He believed that with his efforts, he could keep up with his teammates, or even surpass them, and become the backbone of the Victory Team.

"Where did this person come from? Is he a tourist?" Zongfang saw him running towards the suspension bridge and guessed that he might be a citizen who came to enjoy the spring scenery.

"Maybe, I think I saw some figures too," Lina took two steps forward and shouted, "It's dangerous there! Come back after you've persuaded the tourists to stop!"

She saw the person who was running further and further away waving.

……

Aiba Yu never expected to see Solka again in a place like this.

After the giant left behind the stone statues, geological movements and natural and man-made disasters over a period of 30 million years caused most of the statues to turn to dust.

The statues preserved inside this pyramid can be considered extremely lucky.

He walked forward step by step, looking up at the giant he revered, as if separated by thirty million years of wind, sand, sun, and moon.

He didn't know where the giants had gone, he only knew that Soruka said, "Humans no longer need light, we must go back to our homeland."

So that night, countless lights rose from the earth, and the people, lost in their dreams, were unaware that their trusted guardian had quietly departed.

The "Great Demon" lay silently on the cliff, surrounded by starlight that danced like elves. Some of the starlight came close to the "Great Demon's" eyes, attracting seemingly impatient yet never looking away.

They converge into a mighty river, rising into the sky like steps leading to heaven.

Even the Milky Way paled in comparison to this sea of ​​golden light. The "Great Monster" heard Soruka's farewell voice, and the warm, vibrant giants around him turned into stone statues, starting from their legs.

Soruka said they went to Orion, and if the "Great Monster" also turned into light, they could go find him.

"You're lying." The voice echoed within the pyramid filled with radiance.

Three giant stone statues stand gazing into the distance, still retaining the appearance they had when they looked out over human cities from the mountain.

After the destruction of an ancient civilization, the seeds of new life survived on the ruins.

The place they gazed upon went from city to wasteland, and then slowly from wasteland to city again.

After several twists and turns, the "great monster" who decided to stay finally met them again.

“You never lie, except on the most important thing,” Aiba Yu said, looking up at one of the stone statues.

"Orion doesn't have you at all. Now the darkness in the South Pacific is about to awaken again. Do you think... everything will repeat itself?"

Chapter Twelve Daigo, Someone's Calling You

[Breaking news: A monster approximately 50 meters tall has appeared near Akita City and is heading northeast. Residents along its path are requested to cooperate and evacuate as soon as possible.]

The air squadron alarm blared, and Fujisawa Sousuke, unable to find his captain or get through on the phone, was frantic, like a cat on a hot tin roof.

"Where did the captain go? Is the director having some kind of secret meeting where they've even blocked cell phones?!" He banged his helmet so hard it made a loud thud. Ralph felt like he could crack his own forehead and turn into an even dumber rookie.

“Let’s get going. The captain’s not here, so I have command,” Ralph said to Fujisawa Sousuke. “You come with me to the β, and Herbert, you pilot the α alone. If Melba comes toward the base, that’s when we’ll intercept it!”

Fujisawa Sousuke followed him onto the plane, asking, "Melba? Aren't they taking care of the one in the city? It's about to climb onto the houses!"

“That’s the Victory Team’s mission. We’re just ‘security’,” Ralph said as he got into the cockpit and tapped the edge of the hatch to urge Fujisawa Sousuke to hurry up. “You’ve seen how fast the Melba is. Most fighters can’t keep up with it. Instead of worrying about this, you should worry about yourselves.”

Execution restrained Fujisawa Sousuke's behavior; he obediently boarded the plane, his initial excitement vanishing completely.

The word "security guard" originated from the ground guards. These guys, who came from the army, had a long-standing feud with the air force, which was mostly composed of air force personnel. During a verbal battle, they brought up the word "security guard" and inadvertently included themselves in the mix, which the air force seized the opportunity to ridicule them.

"We're all security guards, who looks down on whom? You're talking like you can wage war against aliens," Fujisawa Sousuke retorted, jumping up and down. "World peace, are you still clinging to old ideas and planning to make an old-fashioned artifact?"