Within the Scalegorge Waterscape.
Jing Yuan and Jingliu were watching as Woola, who had previously been rampaging through the Scalegorge Waterscape was now stretching out it's small hands, hugging the Arbor in front of it.
That mouth, which seemed capable of devouring all things was currently taking bite after bite out of the Arbor.
Woola: You (munch munch)… this thing (munch munch)… where did it come from (munch munch)… the texture (munch munch)… is actually pretty good (munch munch)…
Every time Woola ate a portion of the Arbor, the Arbor would rapidly regrow, only to be eaten again.
Thus, the cycle repeated endlessly. Woola continuously devouring the ever-regenerating Arbor, swallowing it bit by bit, while the Arbor tirelessly regrew it'self, turning it's own body into Woola's food.
And the reason Woola was stubbornly grappling with the Arbor like this… was because of X inside Woola's body.
At this moment, the Arbor that Woola was endlessly devouring was being compressed by Woola's body and sent into it's stomach.
The final destination of this consumed Arbor was to fall into X hands and become the raw material for construction of the wall.
The sound of metal striking stone rang out again and again as X swung the stone hammer in his hands, smashing it against the wall.
Inside Woola's stomach, X construction speed wasn't slow. Counting the time Woola spent continuously eating the Arbor and supplying X with building material, the wall meant to encircle the black hole had already been built partway.
And perhaps sensing something, even as X hands never stopped, Woola's stomach after having been arguing with it's mouth all this time finally realized what all the Arbor being eaten was being used for.
However, the wall was already almost complete.
The wall constructed from the Arbor had already wrapped around the black hole. Only one final strike from X was needed to completely sever the black hole from Woola.
X raised the stone hammer high and delivered the final blow to liberate Woola.
*Boom—!*
After that strike landed, Woola suddenly realized that… it's hunger didn't feel so overwhelming anymore.
With the power of Preservation as the foundation and the Arbor as the material, the forces of two Paths reached balance in that instant, completely enclosing and separating the black hole within Woola's stomach.
X looked at the now-shrunken sphere resting in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.
[We did it, Daichi!]
"Yeah, X—we really did."
Still holding the sphere, X flew out through Woola's open mouth and landed on the ground.
Seeing X unharmed at last, Jing Yuan and Jingliu both exhaled deeply in relief.
Woola let out a roar and walked over to X, it's bright eyes fixed on the sphere in the Ultraman X hand.
Having lost the black hole, Woola had taken a few more bites of the Arbor after X emerged, only to discover something very different from before—
Those few bites caused a strange sensation to appear in it's stomach.
A feeling that seemed to say: "Satisfied".
For the first time, it's stomach was no longer trapped in the eternal torment of unending hunger!
Excited, Woola roared several times, then pressed it's body against X, affectionately rubbing against him. After that, it used it's stubby hands to take the sphere, the former source of it's suffering from X grasp and placed it against it's abdomen.
The mouth on it's stomach bit down gently on the sphere. However, Woola did not bite into it nor swallow it again. Instead, it slowly backed away from X, putting some distance between them, then called out to him several more times.
[…I understand.]
X took a deep breath. After dismissing his armor, he placed his right hand before the timer on his chest.
His left foot traced another arc across the ground, and amidst the overflowing stream of data, his arms crossed.
["Xanadium Beam!"]
This time, Woola opened it's mouth wide and swallowed the Xanadium Beam whole.
Unlike before when being hit by the beam would cause an explosion, this time Woola accepted every drop of the energy. As X continued firing, Woola's entire body began to glow with shifting, multicolored light.
Woola let out a sound of pure satisfaction. Under X watchful gaze, Woola body and the sphere at it's abdomen slowly dissolved into motes of light, drifting gently into the void.
[Daichi, at the end… Woola said thank you.]
"…And in the end, it even left us with a gift."
Daichi looked down at the X Devizer in his hands. Across the screen, data streamed in rapidly, and soon a brand-new card materialized on the display.
"…I'll be in your care from now on."
Daichi smiled faintly at the Cyber Card artwork—Woola, captured in it's final form.
—————————————————
Far away, in a star system whose distance from the Luofu was unknown.
"This ancient beast… could actually communicate?"
Celenova murmured to herself, intrigued, as she watched the footage relayed by the little trick she left behind in the Scalegorge Waterscape.
Unfortunately, once the ancient beast was eliminated, it left behind no remains.
A pity. That had been an ancient beast.
Born after the Propagation Aeon Tayzzyronth—one of the two living ancient beasts in the universe!
And it had even stepped onto the Path of Voracity.
Whether as a species or by it's chosen Path, such a creature was the rarest of the rare.
Yet something so valuable left nothing behind.
A true waste. If even part of it's body remained, she could've at least thrown the carcass into the Warforge Furnace and reforged it.
A Doomsday Beast made from such materials would almost certainly become the strongest of it's kind.
But what surprised her the most… was the armor X wore, so similar to Qlipoth's divine form.
Even through her remote device, Celenova could feel that distinct aura of Preservation radiating from X body.
No wonder Lord Nanook had personally sent her to look at the Luofu.
That man… would definitely become an obstacle to Lord Nanook's advance!
—————————————————
Across the vast expanse of the cosmos.
A colossal figure stood within the starry void, raising an enormous stone hammer. It quietly pondered the angle and direction from which it should strike next.
Behind it towered a massive, indestructible wall—the Wall of Preservation that it itself had constructed.
This being… was the Preservation Aeon—Qlipoth.
Across the dark reaches before it, countless "others" lurked in shadows with wide, gaping mouths silently opening here and there, searching for some angle from which to bite.
But when they saw Qlipoth hefting it's stone hammer, they retreated—just as they always did.
"They" were not fools. Their old friend was the kind of existence who had once shattered that reproduction-happy simpleton in three strikes.
High-EQ phrasing: The Preservation Aeon spent three Amber Eras carefully removing the shell, body, and heart of the Propagation Aeon, Tayzzyronth.
Low-EQ phrasing: Qlipoth chopped Tayzzyronth into pieces in three swings.
Until "it" recovered, it would be wise not to test this old friend.
Still… what a pity that one of it's own broodlings, who had entered Qlipoth's wall had been noticed by Qlipoth itself.