Volume One, Chapter 61: Ultraman Tiga

It was an afternoon of gentle breeze and radiant sun. Standing on the deck, Kirisaki gazed ceaselessly toward the distant sea. He could sense the dark energy gradually growing stronger. At this pace, it would not take more than three years. To him, three years was not long at all—if anything, it was fleeting. Yet impatience was beginning to gnaw at him.

Day after day with the Victory Team, there was nothing but eating and drinking. This was hardly the life for someone as ambitious as he.

Suddenly, a plume of spray burst forth on the distant waves. A blue whale leaped into the air, its massive form crashing back into the sea with tremendous force. Kirisaki’s eyes flickered with interest, and a slow smile crept across his lips. Since things stood thus, why not add some excitement and make these brief years more eventful? And in the process, he could witness for himself the power of that warrior from thirty million years ago—Tiga.

“Corruption Modification.” As Kirisaki murmured softly, an eerie black gleam flashed within his pupils. An invisible force radiated outward from the deck, enveloping the whale. Its body began to change, its genes strengthened, monstrous power it was never meant to possess awakening within it.

A thunderous roar erupted from the depths, and the sound wave instantly whipped up hundred-meter waves that surged toward the shore in relentless succession. Many who noticed the phenomenon turned to stare at the sea.

What entered their view was a dorsal fin stretching twenty meters long, a monstrous silhouette hurtling toward them.

“What is that!”

“Run!”

“There’s a monster!”

Panic seized the crowds on the beach; people scattered like startled birds, fleeing in terror. But the fin moved with terrifying speed, reaching the shore in mere seconds.

With a deafening crash, the beach was split asunder—a deep chasm carved by seawater, running straight toward the distant city.

Alarms blared frantically within the Victory Team’s headquarters. Captain Rena Issued immediate orders: full deployment!

As they departed, Daigu glanced through the cockpit window of the Swallow, spotting Kirisaki standing on the deck. Perhaps sensing his gaze, Kirisaki slowly looked up, a mysterious and unsettling smile playing on his lips.

A chill seized Daigu’s heart, an ominous foreboding settling over him. Noticing his distracted state, Rina, sitting behind him, asked, “Daigu, what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” he replied hastily, forcing himself to refocus.

By now, the monstrous fin had already plunged into the city center. With a tremendous crash, a whale-shaped beast with four limbs clambered onto solid ground. Its body was thick and powerfully built, bristling with quill-like spines; its tail, long and needle-sharp, glinted with a chilling, metallic light.

With a jagged maw, the creature roared, spewing massive energy blasts in all directions. Building after building crumbled in its wake, the surrounding area reduced to ruins in the blink of an eye. Many never had a chance to react; some were crushed by falling debris, others impaled by steel spines. The scene was a vision of hell itself.

The Victory Team members who had just arrived were stunned. Never before had they witnessed destruction of such scale at the hands of a monster—and the devastation was still spreading.

Back at headquarters, Captain Rena could not help but tremble at the sight. Yet her duty as captain demanded composure.

“Shinjo, Fuyuki, go to the ground and evacuate civilians. Rina, Daigu, draw the monster’s attention from the air!” Rena issued her orders without hesitation.

Sensing the gravity in her tone, Daigu and Rina responded resolutely, “Understood!”

They immediately piloted the Swallow One toward the beast, launching their attack.

Green lasers fired from the wings, but struck the monster’s hide as if merely tickling it—utterly ineffective.

“Aim for its eyes!” Rena called urgently. “Its body is covered in thick scales—Swallow One’s weapons can’t penetrate!”

What!

Daigu and Rina exchanged shocked glances. Swallow One was the craft they knew best, its weapon systems intimately familiar. Yet now, Rena said they were powerless against the creature?

“What do we do?” Rina’s voice trembled. “If we can’t pierce its hide, how can we distract it?”

Daigu instinctively reached for the Spark Rod at his chest, intent on transforming. But remembering Rina’s presence, he forced himself to stop.

“Afraid to transform? Then let me lend you a hand,” Kirisaki murmured on the deck, his eyes flashing red.

At that same instant, blood-red light flared in the monster’s eyes. To outside observers, it appeared to go berserk, its presence becoming violently agitated.

But only it knew it was struggling against that unknown force. Yet the power of Tregear was not something a mere modified monster could resist. In a single second, its will was utterly stripped away, leaving it a remote-controlled puppet under Kirisaki’s command.

“Now, go!” Kirisaki’s cold voice echoed in its mind. The beast howled, seized a slab of stone, and hurled it at the Swallow.

“Watch out!” Daigu jerked the controls, trying to evade, but he was a second too late.

With a shattering impact, the Swallow was struck, a wing sheared off, thick smoke trailing from its tail as it spiraled out of control toward the ground.

Rina was knocked unconscious by the blow. Daigu hurriedly drew the Spark Rod and began to transform.

A brilliant column of light appeared in the sky, its radiance illuminating every face below. An unprecedented sense of security blossomed in every heart.

“Tiga...”

“It’s Tiga!”

“Tiga Ultraman has come to save us!”

“Go, Tiga!!”

The refugees amid the ruins erupted in hysterical cheers, as if a god had come to deliver them.

Tiga Ultraman.

Elsewhere in the devastation, a man with a sullen expression raised his head. His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his gaze deep and cold.

“Tiga Ultraman... only the great Kyrieloids can lead mankind! Kyrieloids are the true gods!”

His furious roar faded as he slowly vanished amid the flames.

Meanwhile, the light surrounding Tiga Ultraman finally faded, revealing his true form: a majestic figure, stripes of red and purple, powerful armor, and a crystal on his forehead shining with the light of hope.

This was Tiga.

Tiga Ultraman.