The newly constructed Giant of Light stood silently in place.
According to its AI design, it would obey only the commands of Counsellor Gondo.
Which meant—the tremor just now wasn't caused by the giant.
The massive monitor inside the underground base flickered, displaying the source of the vibration.
On the screen, countless white orbs were rampaging across the Martian surface.
Some of them fired lasers, striking several facilities of the Mars Base and triggering a series of violent explosions.
So that was it—those things were the cause of the tremor.
"White orbs, huh…"
Yu Zhou stared at the screen carefully, noticing faint black lattice-like patterns on their surfaces.
Sphere orbs.
The answer was obvious.
They were the very same Sphere entities—the overarching antagonists that had shadowed the entirety of Ultraman Dyna's story.
Normally, individual Sphere orbs sometimes fused with strange objects to create monsters,
but those Sphere fusion beasts had always been defeated by Asuka.
This time, however, there were far more than usual—an entire swarm.
"Hmph! I'll show you all the might of the Colossal Super Power Giant!"
Climbing up from where he'd fallen, Counsellor Gondo finally saw the invasion displayed on-screen.
Without hesitation, he barked out the order for the Colossal Super Power Giant to launch an attack.
"…That name really gives people the wrong idea," Yu Zhou muttered dryly.
If he didn't know that Captain Munakata was still stationed in the West Asia division as a training instructor,
he might've thought Munakata himself was behind this.
After all, that name—Colossal Super Power Giant—had always been Munakata's obsession.
The ceiling of the underground base parted open.
The Colossal Super Power Giant raised both hands straight up, then blasted off into the sky.
No one spoke.
Everyone simply watched in silence; eyes fixed on the screen to see how this artificial Giant of Light would fight.
"Still," Yu Zhou mused, "the material they used should've been ordinary stone. I didn't expect it to actually work."
He was surprised.
After all, he had already taken away the real statue long ago.
Yet somehow, using mere imitation stone, they'd managed to create an artificial Ultraman that could move.
"Maybe… because the stone absorbed some residual light energy inside the pyramid?"
It was just a guess—Yu Zhou couldn't be sure.
But if imitation stone could already create a so-called Giant of Light,
then perhaps the "light" wasn't as sacred as people believed.
Meanwhile, the Colossal Super Power Giant had already reached the Martian surface.
On Earth, both the Super Victory Team and Victory Team received reports of the Sphere orbs' invasion
and immediately rushed toward Mars.
The giant's glowing eyes locked onto the countless orbs in the sky.
Its hands crossed into an X-shape, releasing streaks of purple energy beams.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several Sphere orbs were blasted apart in bursts of light.
But there were too many of them.
Dozens more darted across the Martian sky, firing back,
bombarding both the surface and the Colossal Super Power Giant itself.
Several beams struck the giant's armour.
It shuddered from the impacts—but, lacking pain receptors, it barely reacted,
quickly stabilizing and firing again.
Another barrage of explosions followed.
More Spheres were destroyed.
Energy attacks—fast, powerful, and easy to use.
The Colossal Super Power Giant clearly relied on them heavily,
continuously firing beams upward, steadily reducing the number of enemies.
"See that?" Gondo said proudly, his eyes gleaming.
"My Colossal Super Power Giant—far stronger than any Dyna, Tiga, or Cain!"
But his excitement lasted barely a minute—before a sharp alarm pierced the control room.
The colour timer on the Colossal Super Power Giant's chest began to flash rapidly.
"Report! The giant's energy level is plummeting!"
A staff member shouted, staring at the data readouts in disbelief.
"What?!" Gondo's voice cracked. "That's impossible!"
It had only just begun to fight—how could it already be running out of power?
If a stronger monster appeared in the future, what could they possibly do then?
Yu Zhou snorted.
"You spam your ultimate move from the start and expect to keep playing? Ridiculous."
Daigo shook his head beside him, equally unimpressed by Gondo's ignorance.
Suddenly, an enormous explosion echoed through the monitor feed.
On-screen, the Colossal Super Power Giant was struck down, collapsing to the ground.
Then—something even worse happened.
The remaining Sphere orbs began to swarm toward it,
fusing themselves one after another onto the giant's massive body—
until its silver armour turned pitch black,
and its once-red colour timer dimmed into a sinister blue.
"What—what?!"
Gondo's face drained of colour.
He understood instantly.
His creation—the Colossal Super Power Giant—had been taken over by the Spheres.
Nearby, Asuka still lay unconscious, unable to wake.
And even if he did, he couldn't transform into Dyna anymore.
The light within his body had been completely drained away.
"It's over… everything's over…"
Gondo fell to his knees, clutching his head in despair.
Reika Saeki, however, refused to give up.
"Everyone, to the Victory Shadow! We'll take the fight to the surface!"
Her squad hurried to their stealth fighters, taking off for the Martian sky.
Above the red wasteland, the corrupted Colossal Super Power Giant unleashed a barrage of light rays,
blasting apart Mars Base structures with ease.
Now fused with the Sphere orbs, the giant's energy seemed infinite.
It attacked relentlessly, beams pouring from its arms in endless succession.
The Victory Shadow and its companion fighters darted around it, firing back.
But their weapons barely scratched its armour—mere mosquito bites to a monster of that scale.
With a single swing of its massive hand,
the Sphere Giant swatted down two of the fighters like flies, sending them crashing in flames.
Reika's heart clenched painfully.
Those were her teammates—her comrades.
"You… you're nothing but a useless fool!"
A weak but furious voice echoed from behind her.
Asuka had opened his eyes.
He glared at the trembling Gondo, gritting his teeth.
"I—" Gondo stammered, unable to meet his gaze.
His mind was on the verge of collapse.
"Senpai," Asuka said, turning to Yu Zhou and Daigo for support,
"let me go."
Yu Zhou placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
"I believe in you, Asuka."
This was his moment to grow—his trial to face alone.
Neither Yu Zhou nor Daigo intended to intervene.
Daigo nodded silently, giving Asuka his confidence.
"You can't transform anymore," Gondo muttered weakly.
"There's no light left in you."
"Can't transform?" Asuka scoffed, eyes burning with defiance.
"I don't believe that for a second."
With that, he raised his Shining Sword high,
awaiting the moment when he would once again become light.