---o---
[Ace Pilot of the Death Squad: Even Father of Ultra has fallen in battle. I can't even begin to imagine how brutal the fights ahead will be.]
[Utaha Kasumigaoka: There was nothing to be done. It was already his absolute limit for Father of Ultra to have held on for that long. No other Ultraman could have achieved such a feat.]
[The Uchiha Dancer: Hmph. Father of Ultra's inner justice and kindness were his undoing. Otherwise, with his strength and status, he would have had countless opportunities to regroup. What a pity...]
[Tianming Bishop: But isn't that precisely what makes him worthy of respect? Sacrificing himself for ordinary people... that is something I could never bring myself to do, no matter what.]
[Himouto Umaru-chan: Father of Ultra... his battle record might be a mess, but his spirit is so noble. Even Belial, who was consumed by darkness, began to admire him...]
Within the light curtain's commentary, the audience from the infinite multiverse expressed their admiration for the Father of Ultra they had just witnessed.
But at the same time, they felt a deep sense of powerlessness and despair at the scene currently being displayed.
Father of Ultra... even without his energy, as long as he was alive, he served to stabilize the morale of his forces. He could intimidate the aliens who sought to profit from the chaos. It could be said that in the absence of Ultraman King, Father of Ultra was the spiritual backbone for all Ultramen and their human allies.
But now, that backbone had been killed by Belial. Relying on the humans and the remaining Ultramen to deal with the Swarm while also guarding against the covetous eyes of other dark forces seemed like an impossible task.
[Detective Conan: With Father of Ultra gone, the only one with the strength to fight the Swarm and those other enemies... is probably Zero.]
[Yukino Yukinoshita: No, there's still Mebius, the Leo brothers, Cosmos, Rei, and humanity itself. If they gather all their strength, there are still other options.]
[Galaxy Baseballer: It's too hard. Relying on just them is far too difficult. This third viewing is practically a hell-mode dungeon. We haven't seen any hope of victory for so long.]
[Jun Himeya: As long as you don't give up, the light will not disappear. That, too, is the Ultra Spirit... No matter what, I believe that victory will come!]
---o---
[On the light curtain, the scene shifted to outer space. From the moment the Swarm began its rampage to its current spread across the entire universe, less than half a month had passed.
Even for a short-lived species like humanity, this period was not considered long, let alone for the long-lived aliens of the cosmos.
In just half a month, the universe had transformed into a completely unrecognizable state, a reality most aliens found unacceptable.
Although their technology was powerful enough, and their cosmic fleets could certainly combat these flashy but insubstantial insects, this... did not mean they could accept the Swarm's existence.
This was especially true when their own colonial planets were stripped bare by the Swarm.
Those planets, where not a single speck of resource could be found, devoured completely and turned into hive worlds—no one would want them even if they were given away for free.
Of course, if the Swarm were controllable, if they could be used as a weapon to attack other planets, then they would absolutely be dancing with joy.
Unfortunately, that was utterly impossible. The Swarm, which operated solely on instinct and propagation, was a completely different concept from monsters. They were virtually impossible to control.
Not to mention the image of the terrifyingly powerful Swarm King they had extracted from the pitifully small minds of the insects.
The Swarm King's will was etched into the consciousness of every single insect. The consequence of trying to force control was to face the Swarm King directly, and they had no confidence they could defeat him.
And so, the Alien Pedans, the Alien Emperors, the Alien Zettons, and many other aliens, including the gzz Alien Babar, after trying every possible method, reached a consensus: the Swarm Disaster could not be allowed to spread any further.
Thus, under the call of the Great Emperor of the Dark Universe, Alien Empera, these aliens from the dark worlds formed an alliance, creating a dark cosmic coalition led by Alien Empera himself.
Millions of Inpelaizers, plus numerous aliens and their subordinate monsters and robots, formed a vast and mighty legion, now marching towards the Swarm King.
Even the Land of Light at its peak, without the intervention of Ultraman King, would have struggled to resist such an alliance...
At this moment, on the edge of the Solar System, a massive, pitch-black warship, as large as a small asteroid, floated in space.
"Your Majesty, the soldiers on the front lines have reported a discovery."
Inside the warship, Alien Empera's overwhelmingly imposing figure sat on the highest throne, while Alien Mephilas presented the images transmitted from the Inpelaizers on the front line.
In the vast sea of stars, aside from the dense Swarm and the planets already ravaged by them, a single azure planet still stood.
Surrounding it was a blurry, light-blue, mosaic-like barrier.
It was this seemingly weak barrier that was protecting the Earth, preventing it from becoming a breeding ground for the Swarm like the other planets.
"Is that... Earth?"
Desrem rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Earth's weakness was universally acknowledged. Without the protection of the Ultramen, it wasn't even worthy of having its name remembered.
"Since when did Earth have the technology to resist the Swarm? It must be those annoying Ultramen again," Alien Guts exclaimed from the side. Clearly... he didn't believe for a second that Earth could survive unscathed amidst the endless Swarm.
"Hmph, the Ultramen of the Land of Light are truly kind-hearted. They can't even protect themselves, yet they still go and protect those foolish Earthlings," Alien Temperor sneered. They were already enemies of the Land of Light, so naturally, they held no goodwill towards Earth.
"Your Majesty, shall we deal with Earth along the way? With the current strength of our army, it would be effortless," Desrem's voice rang out. Although their ultimate goal was the Swarm King at the edge of the galaxy, the light from Earth was simply too glaring, as annoying as the Swarm itself.
Moreover, the current Dark Empire was far more powerful than it had been during the Great Ultra War thirty thousand years ago. Unless Earth had an Ultraman on the same level as His Majesty the Emperor, its destruction was certain.
Hearing Desrem's words, Alien Empera glanced at him, and a voice filled with authority echoed in Desrem's ears. "The surface of the Earth is covered by a barrier."
"This is Ken's ability. It belongs to Father of Ultra, the strongest Ultraman, who left an incurable scar upon my body."
Touching the wound that still faintly burned, Alien Empera's eyes instantly darkened.
"Desrem, you wish to conquer Earth, but... are you a match for Father of Ultra?"
"This..." Empera's words caused Desrem to break out in a cold sweat, too terrified to move.
He hated Ultramen, and he detested the Land of Light, but that didn't mean he was a fool.
Who was Father of Ultra? To put it bluntly, he was a legendary Ultra Warrior who had single-handedly saved the universe multiple times.
Even His Majesty the Emperor had once been defeated by him. Where would he, Desrem, find the courage to fight such a figure?
"Your Majesty, Desrem was merely speaking out of turn. Please forgive him," Alien Mephilas chimed in, speaking up for Desrem.
He had no choice. Their emperor had a habit of turning hostile against even his closest aides whenever Father of Ultra was mentioned.
For the sake of his own life, it was best to stop Desrem from continuing to touch upon His Majesty's sore spot.
"Indeed, Emperor Empera, there's no need to get angry over such trivial matters. The Land of Light has already fallen. Even if Father of Ultra is still alive, he no longer poses a threat," the gzz Alien Babar, who didn't understand Empera's temperament nor the current situation, said to the emperor. "Besides, have you not noticed that this barrier is growing weaker and weaker?"
"If Father of Ultra still possessed his original strength, he would surely repair this barrier. He wouldn't be content to hide like a coward."
It had to be said, although Alien Babar was a gzz, he possessed a decent intellect. While not comparable to a being like Alien Mephilas, he was still competent.
Unfortunately for him, he failed to consider why Alien Mephilas, the Emperor's most loyal and intelligent subordinate, hadn't pointed out something so obvious.
Could it be that he hadn't noticed?
Perhaps my wisdom has already surpassed that of Alien Mephilas, Alien Babar thought smugly.
And then...
"BOOM!!!"
Before Alien Babar could revel in his pride, a surge of dark power suddenly erupted within the ship, blasting him away and slamming him into the ship's wall.
Without even a single cry, Alien Babar died at the hands of Alien Empera.
Witnessing this, Alien Mephilas silently lowered his head, not daring to say a word, while the other aliens around them turned green with fear.
No one had expected Empera to be so merciless, killing without hesitation, showing no concern that Alien Babar's clan might seek revenge.
Alien Empera rose from his throne and spoke to Babar's corpse, "I did not give you permission to offer advice."
He scanned the surrounding aliens and slowly began to speak. "Desrem's words displeased me somewhat, but he was right about one thing... I will conquer Earth."
"However... even in a weakened state, Father of Ultra's power is not to be underestimated."
Alien Empera's words were filled with pressure, and a murderous aura emanated from his body.
"Therefore, this time... I shall go myself, to avenge the wound from his sword all those years ago."
As his voice fell, a boundless dark aura instantly enveloped the surrounding light-years.
Within this range, all members of the Swarm were devoured by the darkness, decaying and vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Then, in less than half a minute, the entire Solar System was submerged in Alien Empera's darkness.]
---o---
[Ultraman Os: This... is this the legendary Great Emperor of the Dark Universe? Such a ferocious personality, such immense power.]
[Sosuke Aizen: It seems Father of Ultra made quite a few enemies in his youth. Besides Belial, whose love turned to hate, there is also the Great Emperor of the Dark Universe.]
[Father of Ultra: Alien Empera... Thirty thousand years have passed, yet his power has barely diminished. He is as terrifying as ever.]
[Ultraman Taiga: It's alright, Grandpa! He's just someone you've defeated before! If you can beat him once, you can definitely beat him a second time!]
[Flame-Head Captain: ...I'm afraid it's not that simple. Although both the Supreme Commander and Alien Empera left indelible scars on each other in that war, the Supreme Commander's injuries... were clearly more severe.]
[Flame-Head Captain: Today, Alien Empera can almost completely ignore his old wounds from thirty thousand years ago, but the Supreme Commander...]
[Yukino Yukinoshita: No way. Can't the Land of Light even revive Ultramen? How can they not heal a single wound?]
[Super Scientist Ah Guang: The nature of the injury is different. The wound on the Supreme Commander's waist contains residual dark power left by Alien Empera. The current medical technology of the Land of Light is simply incapable of removing it.]
[Himouto Umaru-chan: Looking at it this way, this Alien Empera is a real powerhouse. Right now on Earth, the only one who could fight him is probably Zero at full power...]
---o---
[On the light curtain, to avoid interference from the Swarm, Alien Empera annihilated every last insect in the entire Solar System.
And he did it in just a few short minutes. It should be known that only a handful of beings in the entire universe could accomplish such a feat.
Subsequently, on Earth, after Alien Empera's dark power dissipated, sunlight once again shone upon the land.
"The sun... It's the sun!"
"What happened? Did those bugs leave? Are we saved?"
"It's the Ultramen! The Ultramen must have saved us!!"
Humanity, having survived the ordeal, celebrated endlessly, rejoicing in their escape from disaster.
However, their smiles were short-lived.
After the Swarm had dyed the sun crimson, the darkness had expelled the crimson color, allowing humanity a brief moment to enjoy the sun's light.
Then, a boundless, desperate darkness, even more extreme than the Swarm, completely enveloped the sun.
In the blink of an eye, an entire star seemed to have been extinguished, shrouding the Solar System in a color far more monotonous than the vibrant hues of the Swarm.
And that color... was darkness!
At that exact moment, the barrier established by Father of Ultra was shattered. A pitch-black figure descended from the heavens, landing upon the earth...]