Volume One, Chapter 66: Intimidation (Part Two)

In the end, Tiga could no longer hold on and dissolved into light, vanishing from the spot. Fortunately, beneath him lay the ruins, a mass of debris providing cover; otherwise, his identity would have been exposed without question.

After unleashing a single attack that sent shockwaves through all present, Barel turned back and bowed respectfully. “My lord.”

Only now did someone finally notice Kirisaki standing atop the building.

In the Victory Team, Norie suddenly stood up, his face full of astonishment. “They really do know each other!”

He had overheard the exchange between Tiga and Barel just moments before. He had harbored some doubts, but now they were dispelled—this was solid proof.

Hearing Norie’s voice ring out over the communicator, the expressions of the Victory Team members darkened instantly. Especially Captain Hikari. Her face was etched with unwillingness and remorse; at last, as if refusing to accept reality, she closed her eyes.

But the next second, she snapped them open, horror gleaming within. She recalled Kirisaki claiming to hail from the Land of Light—a world of thousands upon thousands of giants.

Captain Hikari’s pupils contracted. She staggered and collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed. The other team members seemed to realize this too. They stared, wide-eyed and at a loss for what to do.

What they didn’t know was that they were vastly overthinking things. Kirisaki had no intention of harming Earth; he simply wished to wait quietly for the maturation of the Dark Element.

Suddenly, a streak of black light pierced the sky. Tregear appeared before Barel. Compared to his previous two appearances, this time he radiated an oppression and dread that no ordinary person could comprehend.

A collective gurgling sound rumbled from countless human throats. At this moment, a voice seemed to echo in their minds—could this giant intend to rule humanity? Or perhaps, to annihilate them?

They dared not think further. Terror drove them into instinctive flight.

In the blink of an eye, chaos erupted throughout the city.

Tregear ignored it all, speaking slowly, “Barel, go eliminate those stubborn holdouts.”

“And then… you may return.”

“Yes, my lord.” Barel answered obediently, vanishing in an instant. Despite his warning, some stubborn aliens still hid among the crowds. Now they could be purged completely.

Tregear smiled in satisfaction, turning his gaze toward where Captain Hikari was. “Captain, I hope your TPC doesn’t attempt anything foolish. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to destroy this planet.”

“What nonsense!” Before Captain Hikari could reply, Munakata’s voice thundered up from below. “We humans will never compromise!”

Captain Hikari was stunned for several seconds, then slowly raised her head, her gaze steely. “Munakata is right. We still have Tiga.”

She instinctively glanced toward the ruins, her tone firm. “Rina, Shinjo, Juejing, return to base at once and pilot the Atlantis.”

The Atlantis was the Victory Team’s latest spaceborne mothership, equipped with the immensely powerful Drak Cannon and the Max Drive system—a marvel of humanity’s most advanced technology.

“Yes, Captain!” the three replied in unison.

But as their voices rang out, Tregear’s lips curled in disdain. Having stolen TPC’s data, he was well aware of the Atlantis’ existence. But a warship of that caliber… never mind. Since they placed their hopes in it, he would make it their source of despair.

Tregear slowly ascended into the air, casually hurling an energy sphere at TPC’s Pacific base.

When the sphere reached above the base, it suddenly contracted to a single black point, then expanded in the next instant into a colossal storm radiating an aura of pure annihilation.

In the blink of an eye, the TPC base was shredded by the tempest; not even the flames of explosion could erupt before it was obliterated into nothingness.

Within the storm’s reach, all matter, all life—even the seawater—was instantly evaporated, leaving behind a yawning, abysmal chasm of darkness.

Captain Hikari was frozen. Daigu was frozen. Every member of the Victory Team, and indeed all of humanity, stood rooted, paralyzed.

Though they could not see the ocean’s surface, the ever-expanding, terrifying storm and its nightmarish presence shattered any last hope in their hearts.

Such overwhelming power… Could humans ever hope to resist it?

“This must be a joke…” Norie tried to call out, but Shinjo collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, utterly lost.

Beside him, Juejing also fell, his face ashen, as if suffocated by an incomparably powerful force, unable to breathe.

All the while, the storm continued its relentless expansion, destroying everything within its grasp.

Bathed in the afterglow of destruction, Tregear—with his crimson, demonic eyes—truly resembled a devil.

A devil from the very depths of hell.

Despair washed over Daigu’s face. He could sense the sheer magnitude of that power; every pore, every cell, his soul, even the light at his innermost core, all trembled uncontrollably.

This was oppression from a higher dimension, snuffing out even the thought of resistance.

Captain Hikari shook her head in a daze, her face drained of color, eyes vacant and unfocused, lost and bewildered.

Was this to be the end of humanity?

Perhaps her silent question was heard, for the storm abruptly halted, and then vanished as if it had never existed.

All that remained were the missing base, the empty sea, and the lingering aura of destruction—the only traces of what had transpired.

Meanwhile, all across the globe, monsters began to emerge. Awakened by Tregear’s upheaval, ancient beasts that had long slumbered beneath the earth now rose, howling in fury.

To meet them came a beam of black light, sharp enough to rend space itself.

Barel, a Baltan—well known as a cosmic ninja—now fully revealed his ninja prowess.

He moved with astonishing speed, his blade swifter still. No matter how formidable the monster, each was slain with a single clean stroke.

To ordinary eyes, his every move seemed like teleportation; with each shift, another giant lifeform was mercilessly harvested.

Cries of anguish and despair echoed across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and beyond, only to be swiftly silenced.

Once the purge was complete, Barel immediately returned to Tregear’s side, dropping to one knee. “My lord, the task is done.”

Tregear nodded slightly. “Excellent. Remain here with me and await the emergence of the Dark Element.”

The Dark Element?

A hint of confusion flickered in Barel’s eyes, but he dared not inquire further, merely standing obediently behind Tregear.