Volume One, Chapter 114: The Final Battle (4)

"Heh heh heh, an accident?"

Bareru’s laughter grew increasingly cold and sinister. His gaze swept over the Baltan race in the distance before he raised his cursed blade, pointing it at Father of Ultra and roaring, "If it weren't for the diffused radiation from your Land of Light's Plasma Spark, our experiment never would have met with such an accident!"

"And you, Ultraman!" Bareru’s blade tip sliced toward the original Ultraman. "You annihilated twenty billion of my kin. If I, Bareru, do not avenge this, I am no longer a man!"

"Two billion Baltans!"

At these words, everyone present gasped, staring at the original Ultraman in utter disbelief. The Ultra Warriors were also struck with horror, their faces pale with shock.

"Two billion... how can this be!"

Zoffy was the first to refuse to believe it. He immediately grabbed the original Ultraman’s shoulder and urged, "Brother, tell them it isn't true!"

The original Ultraman kept his head bowed, saying nothing. But his silence was the most damning evidence of all.

Father of Ultra’s expression finally shifted. He struck the original Ultraman across the face. "What exactly happened? You massacred two billion Baltans, and you never mentioned a word of it to me!"

The other Ultra Warriors looked on in disbelief. Ultra Warriors had always been synonymous with peace and kindness, but now, a butcher had emerged from within the Land of Light! It wasn't twenty, nor twenty thousand, but two billion! Two billion lives—that was nearly an entire extinction!

"Enough, stop the acting," Bareru’s voice echoed from afar. "You Ultras are devoid of conscience. It is time for you to vanish from this universe."

"Impossible!" Father of Ultra turned around, his voice resolute. "Even if the original Ultraman committed a wrong, our Ultra Warriors have always acted for the sake of peace across the entire universe!"

"To hell with your lies!" Magna cursed viciously. "In the entire universe, aside from the Earthlings who resemble your ancestors, where have you ever truly maintained peace? Everyone knows that wherever the Ultra race goes, they leave nothing but scorched earth in their wake!"

"Magna is right," the leader of the Babaru stepped forward, his eyes fixed fearlessly upon the Ultras. "By the laws of the universe, things have always proceeded according to natural selection and survival of the fittest. You claim to protect the weak, but what about Earth? You sent Ultra Warriors there time and time again. Do you realize," he bellowed, "that you were protecting humans whom even Delacion prophesied would destroy the universe!"

"Don't tell me you don't know what Delacion represents."

As he spoke, Magna closed his eyes, calming his inner rage. Yet, his words continued to spread, infecting and igniting the blood of every alien present. It was true—the Ultras constantly touted themselves as the embodiment of justice and light, protecting weak aliens and Earthlings without ever considering the consequences. Those weak planets were protected, but what of the other civilizations that needed resources to survive? Were they simply meant to starve to death? When faced with the extinction of their own races, would they not turn their aggression toward more advanced planets? Wars between advanced races could devastate entire star systems, leading to even more destruction. Was the Land of Light not, in effect, inciting war? In the end, the Ultra race should never have been born!

"That is nothing but sophistry!" Zero scoffed, retorting without hesitation. "You speak of Earthlings, but Earth was a weak planet, and yet you races repeatedly sent monsters and aliens there to cause chaos. Do they not deserve to be wiped out?"

"Ultraman Zero," Garum said, "I respect you as a powerful warrior, but the propagation of universal races is not for your kind to decide."

"Then why waste words?" Zero’s gaze sharpened, and a dangerous white light began to shimmer around him once more. "As long as I eliminate you and eliminate Tregear, the universe will naturally return to peace."

"Well said," Seven added. "You aliens, instead of staying on your own planets, have allowed yourselves to be incited to wage war. Though you are but tools of Tregear, those who challenge our Land of Light must be purged!"

"Purge them!"

"Purge them!"

"Purge them!"

The Ultra Warriors roared in unison, their voices creating a wave of sound that rippled across the M78 Nebula and was transmitted to the rest of the universe by curious observers.

Magna opened his eyes, his boundless fury distilled into a single word: "Kill!"

Before the word had even faded, Bareru charged forward. The cursed blade in his hand swelled into a massive, hundred-foot weapon, slashing toward the Ultras.

"Everyone, fall back!" Zero shouted. A flash of light erupted from his hands, and the Ultimate Aegis transformed into a ten-thousand-meter blade of light, striking back with lethal force.

*BOOM—!!!!*

Amidst the deafening explosion, Father of Ultra raised his hand calmly, unleashing a vast wave of light. "The Ultra Medals and Risers are ready. Everyone, test their power!"

Having said this, Father of Ultra turned and retreated behind the barrier of the Land of Light. His original intention was to provide the others with power-ups; engaging Bareru and the others was merely a trial. Since it hadn't worked, they would have to fight to the death.

Geed was the first to catch a Riser and Medals, transforming into his Galaxy Rising form. The other Ultra Warriors followed suit, their power increasing exponentially.

Below, the battle had reached a white-hot intensity, but above, the conflict remained at a stalemate. It seemed the King of Ultra, like his opponent, was at the fifth level of Legend.

"Damn it!" Tregear cursed, forced to detach himself from Grimdo’s body. Although he and Grimdo had long since merged, they could fight independently. This meant that his disadvantage would instantly turn into an advantage—provided the King of Ultra was left alone.

Tregear wasted no time, firing a Tregear-Ray toward the King of Ultra’s golden domain.

*BOOM!*

The domain shuddered violently, and the King of Ultra felt his pressure double. Resisting one Legend-level entity was his limit; against two, he had no hope of victory. Glancing at the Infinite-form Mebius, a thought suddenly sparked in the King’s mind. If the power of Taro and the others could empower Mebius to the Legend level, could the power of the New Generation warriors be channeled into Taiga’s Ultra Horn to produce an even greater force?