Golden circular-grain medals appeared one after another across the golden armour plate on his chest. His body shifted into a silver-and-blue coloration, while bands of light sigils coiled around both wrists.
Yuzhou knew very well that with a single thought, two Light Swords would manifest in his hands.
"What?!"
Both Ultraman Z and Haruki were startled when they saw Yuzhou appear, halting their movements mid-battle.
"This is… which senior?"
Haruki found himself unable to identify Tiga's altered form.
But Z recognized it instantly.
"It's Senior Tiga!"
Yuzhou gave Z a slight nod—yet before the gesture was even complete, the momentarily distracted Z was smashed away by Red King's fist.
Yuzhou: "..."
At a loss for words, Yuzhou raised his hand and released Cosmos's power—the Full Moon Light Wave—which drifted gently toward Red King.
Particles of light wrapped around Red King's massive body. Before long, its violent emotions were soothed, and the raging monster gradually calmed.
Z climbed back to his feet and was about to counterattack, but Yuzhou stopped him with one hand.
"Senior Tiga, why aren't you letting me attack it?"
Z asked, puzzled.
"It's fighting to protect its children," Yuzhou replied calmly.
"Ask Haruki whether he still wants to attack it."
Haruki had been on leave, back in his hometown, wandering through the park—memories of his father resurfacing, especially how he had once protected Haruki during a monster attack.
Now, hearing that Red King was also fighting to protect its own offspring, Haruki's thoughts surged violently.
"It… it's only protecting its children?!"
Haruki said in disbelief.
If Senior Tiga had not stopped them, that Red King—fighting for its young—might already have been blown to pieces.
And in that case… Haruki would have been the one at fault.
"Yes," Yuzhou said. "But you don't need to worry. I used Ultraman Cosmos's abilities to purify it. Its emotions have already been stabilized."
"That's good… that's really good."
Inside Z, Haruki nodded repeatedly, his interest in Ultraman Cosmos growing rapidly.
Red King returned to its nest and began relocating its entire family.
As for where it went—most likely burrowing deeper underground—Yuzhou had no idea.
After cancelling his transformation, Haruki kept bombarding Yuzhou with questions about Ultraman Cosmos.
Yuzhou simply told him a few stories.
About Cosmos's purification and mercy.
About a world where an entire planet existed solely for monsters to live peacefully.
Haruki listened with shining eyes, constantly imagining what Earth would be like in another universe.
"If you get the chance," Yuzhou said casually as he left, "have Z take you there someday."
"OSU!"
...
Juggler sought out Yuzhou once again.
He was somewhat puzzled by Yuzhou's decision to let Red King go.
Juggler knew very well that sparing this Red King meant that the next time monsters attacked human cities, it might not be just one.
"Juggler," Yuzhou said calmly, "everything has two sides. On the surface, it looks like I let Red King escape."
"But in reality, I prevented Haruki from falling into his inner demon."
"Inner demon?"
Juggler paused, clearly hearing the term for the first time.
"Yes. His inner demon," Yuzhou nodded.
"Haruki's inner demon would have been born the moment he killed Red King."
"And what about your own inner demon?"
Yuzhou smiled faintly at Juggler.
"Do you really not know it yourself?"
Not long ago, Yuzhou had already helped Juggler partially resolve his own inner turmoil.
Saving Mikoto had meant everything to him.
"My own inner demon…"
Juggler sighed, finally understanding.
If Red King hadn't been spared, and Haruki had developed that inner conflict, the consequences would have been far worse.
Imagining a future where he alone had to transform and fight every monster made Juggler feel an odd sense of relief.
Thankfully, Haruki hadn't fallen into that state.
From now on, when monsters appeared, Haruki would still fight earnestly.
"Oh, right," Yuzhou said suddenly.
"There seems to be another monster beneath the ground nearby."
"What?"
Juggler looked completely confused by the abrupt statement.
"This monster is different," Yuzhou explained.
"It was originally a wild creature, but long ago it was discovered by the Defense Force and brought under control for research."
"There's something like that?"
Juggler was genuinely surprised—he had never heard of it.
But that was normal.
As STORAGE's captain, Juggler was responsible only for the Special Storage Machines.
What the higher levels of the Defense Force researched—especially projects unrelated to the robots—was not something they would disclose to him.
That secretly researched monster was codenamed Grigio Raiden.
Originally an alien creature, it had been treated as a biological weapon by Earth's Defense Force and subjected to modification experiments.
In truth, this was also part of Celebro's plan to accelerate Earth's civilizational collapse.
Unfortunately, before Celebro could see how that plan unfolded, he was already dead.
Biological weapons.
That term was usually reserved for monsters modified by alien civilizations.
And aliens only ever used biological weapons for one purpose—
war and invasion.
Knowing such a creature existed, Juggler also recognized it as a potential threat.
Though widely travelled across the universe, Juggler—now merely a STORAGE captain—could only concern himself so much.
What troubled him most was the direction of human technological development on this Earth.
The mecha technology path had been solid—
Yet somehow, humanity had veered toward biological weapons.
Yuzhou had plenty of ideas he could suggest to this planet's people.
For example, developing a dedicated planet for monsters to live on, reducing conflict.
Or domesticating monsters and turning them into allies, rather than transforming them into weapons like alien civilizations did.
Mass-producing Z Risers and pairing them with medal-manufacturing machines was also an option—
But granting humanity such overwhelming power would inevitably lead them straight into Celebro's civilization-destruction scheme.
That method was the least suitable of all.
After Juggler left, Yuzhou suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation appear somewhere on Earth.
With a thought, his body dispersed into particles of light and vanished.
The next moment, he appeared inside Kaburagi's home.
Seeing the golden, towering figure gripping Kaburagi by the neck, Yuzhou's gaze sharpened.
"Tartarus," Yuzhou said coldly, "release him."
"Oh?"
The golden figure turned its head.
"And who might you be?"
That golden giant was none other than Tartarus—the one Yuzhou had been searching for all along.
Tartarus had never seen Yuzhou in his human form before, so upon seeing him now, he was genuinely puzzled.
Yuzhou almost forgot about one particular detail.
An idea formed instantly.
"I am Celebro," Yuzhou said calmly.