Ever since arriving on the island, the only humans from Paradis Island he had seen—aside from the two Ultraman human hosts and the Survey Corps' elite squad—was Zenith.
It was safe to say that ever since he set foot on the island, he had been getting beaten up without a single moment of rest.
"You all forced my hand! Since you want to see The Rumbling so badly, I'll give you exactly what you want!"
Truth be told, Zenith could have triggered The Rumbling himself, but doing it personally just didn't feel right. Having Zeke do it seemed a bit more reasonable.
Or, for a simpler explanation: Zenith had stayed in this world a little too long and acted a little too serious, so now he just wanted to go completely unhinged.
Zenith tapped his index finger against his temple, directly pinging the SPW staff aboard the airship. "All departments, attention. The live broadcast countdown begins now. Airships over the Marley Empire and neighboring countries, prepare for takeoff. Connect the large screens to the live feed!"
According to Zenith's previous plan, if they wanted to shatter the world's prejudice against Eldians, they needed to establish a new target of conflict outside of the Eldian race.
The Eldians would no longer be the Titans; the deterrent would shift to a different, unknown type of giant. Only then could they promote racial integration among the nations.
But the prerequisite for all this was that the people needed to clearly witness the deterrent power of the Ultramen.
If he actually let The Rumbling leave Paradis Island and trample the entire world, leaving countless people homeless and the death toll in the tens of millions, it would be far too cruel and unrealistic.
Therefore, Zenith thought of those massive airships equipped with giant screens from Academy City. That, in turn, led him to the idea of a worldwide live broadcast.
The SPW staff hoisted their cameras and aimed them at Zenith. Upon seeing his cue, they quickly flipped the switches, starting the live broadcast.
On the screen, Zenith appeared in a formal suit, holding a microphone. Behind him lay the battered, bruised, and swollen Founding Titan, Zeke.
"Dear viewers, friends far across the sea in the Marley Empire and the Mid-East Allied Forces, I am currently on Paradis Island, bringing you a live broadcast of the grand spectacle known as The Rumbling."
"As you can see, the Titan behind me is the chief culprit who triggered this Rumbling. Although we have tried our absolute best to stop this perpetrator, it seems we were unable to halt the progression of The Rumbling."
Zeke, lying flat on the ground: *'Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?'*
Residents in other parts of the world looked up at the airships in the sky with faces full of confusion. *Did technology develop this fast?*
They knew what airships were, and they had seen movies, but an airship with a massive color display screen was a first for them. Not to mention, based on what was being said, this "movie" seemed to be live?
*Is this really a live feed from Paradis Island?*
Those who didn't know about The Rumbling were completely baffled, but the higher-ups who *did* know about it instantly broke out in cold sweat.
The image on the airships shifted, cutting from the handsome young man to a high-altitude bird's-eye view of the Walls.
The outer shell of the fifty-meter-tall Walls crumbled away, revealing the Colossal Titans standing shoulder-to-shoulder inside, their red muscle tissue exposed.
An overwhelming, endless sea of Colossal Titans stretching as far as the eye could see!
According to simple calculations, The Rumbling consisted of roughly 350,000 fifty-meter-class Colossal Titans. Marching in a straight line outward from Paradis Island, even if they did absolutely nothing else, their sheer massive size was enough to trample the entire world.
"It's absolutely shocking, my friends! The entire earth is trembling! I now need to board an airship and take refuge in the sky to prevent our broadcasting equipment from being destroyed by the Titans."
Zenith led the SPW staff up the tow rope ladder and onto the airship. A few minutes later, the first Wall Titan passed directly beneath them.
"Quick, get a close-up of the Titan," Zenith directed the cameraman, not forgetting his commentary duties. "According to our calculations, the Titans are moving at a speed of approximately fifty kilometers per hour. That means, once they reach the opposite shore, it will only take four days for The Rumbling to completely destroy the continent where the Marley Empire is located."
On the screen, wherever the Wall Titans walked, they left behind a uniform trail of massive footprints. Trees were uprooted, and buildings collapsed. It was like a moving earthquake, annihilating everything in its path.
"Friends in Marley, if I were you, I would probably be begging to buy an airship ticket right about now. Or perhaps, we can hold out hope that someone will come to save us?"
Taking their cue, Hannes and Levi exchanged a glance. They simultaneously pulled out their glasses and transformed into their Ultraman forms.
The crimson Ultraseven and the red-and-blue Ultraman Zero—even these two great Giants of Light felt a wave of dread in their hearts as they stood before The Rumbling.
The power of an Ultraman was indeed formidable, but it couldn't offset the sheer, absurd number of Wall Titans.
Even if they one-punched every single one, they would still have to fight non-stop for four or five days straight.
Hannes and Levi exchanged another look, planted their feet, and immediately unleashed their strongest attacks: the Wide Shot.
Torrents of white energy swept across the earth. The two Ultramen stood firmly rooted to the ground, like unyielding reefs facing a tidal wave.
"Viewers, look closely! Within the light of hope, we see the Giants of Light! Legend has it that they hail from the distant Nebula M78. They are emissaries of peace, executing justice throughout the universe and protecting the weak... hey, you, grab me a bottle of water."
In the time it took him to take a sip of water, Ultraseven and Ultraman Zero had finished firing their Wide Shots and switched to the slightly weaker Emerium Rays. It was still an instant kill; wherever the green beams swept past, Wall Titans exploded one after another.
"But obviously, the disparity in numbers is too vast! The power of the Giants of Light is not enough to turn the tide. Will humanity truly perish beneath The Rumbling?!"
Panic spread across the globe alongside the live broadcast. Movies were still a novel concept in this world, and the people lacked the desensitized nerves of modern audiences accustomed to CGI blockbusters. Faced with the footage on the screens, they wholeheartedly believed that this was the reality they were about to face.
"You can do it! Giants of Light!"
No one knew who shouted it first, but soon others began to echo the sentiment. Two people, then three, until eventually, a tsunami of cheering voices echoed across the heavens and the earth.
They didn't know the Ultramen and had no emotional attachment to them, but through the giant screens, they could feel the tragic heroism of a mayfly trying to shake a tree.
Those two Giants of Light were their only hope.
This scene, however, left Zenith completely dumbfounded. *Wait, hold on a second.* His original plan was to have the SPW's Ultraman Legion make a grand entrance—three thousand Ultramen destroying The Rumbling to establish a new deterrent for forced peace.
But looking at the current situation, why did it feel like the masses were spontaneously trying to power up the two Ultramen into their Glitter forms?
The power of an Ultraman was idealistic. Hope, prayers, and sheer willpower could allow the Ultra power to channel miraculous strength, just like Glitter Tiga.
"Holy crap, it's too late, they're actually turning into Glitter forms! Quick, quick, quick! Get the Ultraman Legion out there to make their cameo, or there won't even be scraps left for us!"
Countless rays of light converged from all directions, pouring into Ultraseven and Ultraman Zero. In an instant, the two Ultramen erupted with boundless golden light.
Behind the two Glitter Ultramen, three thousand SPW members transformed into Tiga appeared simultaneously, launching a coordinated barrage of attacks.
Amidst the massive flames and explosions, the number of Wall Titans dwindled at an astonishing rate. Towards the end, Zenith simply waved his hand, disintegrating the remaining Titans back into the sand of the Coordinate space.
His original goal hadn't been perfectly achieved, but the people who had contributed their light managed to grasp the true meaning of mutual understanding through the light's feedback.
As time passed, perhaps the prejudice against Eldians truly would be drowned in the annals of history.
*This should count as a Happy End, right?* Zenith wasn't entirely sure.
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