"...What?"
Masaki was utterly stunned. Yuzhou actually wanted to turn the three Dark Giants into beings of light?
"Yuzhou, you must be joking. Unless… you've mastered some technology that can convert darkness into light?" Masaki asked in disbelief as they walked through the tunnel.
"Of course not." Yuzhou shook his head, smiling faintly. "But thirty million years ago, even the Dark Tiga managed to turn into light. If he could, then I believe these three can as well."
"I see…" Masaki muttered, half convinced. "But listen, I heard something strange from them. They claimed to be Tiga's… wife and brothers."
"Cough—cough!!" Yuzhou almost choked on his own saliva. "That's definitely Tiga himself, not me!"
Masaki gave him a long, suspicious look, but decided not to press further.
Not long after, the two finally reunited with Daigo, who had already found Captain Megumi.
When Megumi heard from Daigo that Yuzhou had returned, her heart filled with joy. After all, it had been two whole years—of course she missed him dearly.
"Captain!" Yuzhou grinned wide, showing his teeth, relieved to see her safe.
"Yuzhou, welcome back!" Megumi beamed. She spread her arms, clearly about to embrace him—
Slap!
A slender hand shot out, knocking Megumi's hands away and stepping in front of Yuzhou.
"Hmph. You are not allowed to touch him!"
Everyone froze. It was… Camearra.
"Cam—" Yuzhou tried to explain, but she cut him off coldly.
"Silence. Don't speak." Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at Megumi. "Thirty million years ago, you were tricked by that woman Yuzare's honeyed words. And you… you abandoned us. I will not allow history to repeat itself!"
"..."
Everyone looked at Yuzhou with strange expressions. Masaki, Megumi, even Daigo—all wordlessly judging him.
"Why are you all staring at me like that???" Yuzhou's heart was already crying out. I swear I didn't do anything! Please, just don't let me run into the real Tiga… if that happens, I'm doomed.
Megumi sighed and asked seriously, "Yuzhou, do you really intend to turn them into beings of light?"
"Yes." Yuzhou nodded. "Camearra only hates you because you inherited Yuzare's bloodline. Three million years ago, it was Yuzare who persuaded Tiga to turn to the light, leaving them behind. That resentment got transferred onto you."
"No wonder." Megumi's eyes widened with sudden realization. "I did feel something strange the moment I entered R'lyeh… so it was the blood in my body calling out."
She let it go in the end, though the idea of hugging Yuzhou had vanished—mostly because Camearra's glare could have cut steel.
Before long, Hudra and Darramb also regrouped, and with nothing more to do inside, the whole group left the ruins.
"Captain!" Munakata's voice rang first, his relief plain when he saw Megumi emerge.
"Daigo!" Rena followed quickly, rushing to his side.
"Thank goodness the Captain and Masaki are alright," Shinjo, Horii, and Yazumi all added. Relief washed over the Victory Team.
"…So nobody's happy to see me?" Yuzhou covered his face dramatically, pretending to sob.
Then, without warning, a soft, fragrant presence latched onto his arm. He froze, looked down, and immediately yanked his arm free in a panic.
"Camearra! What are you doing?!" Yuzhou's voice cracked. At this rate, a man really does need self-defense skills out here…
"You just said no one cared." Camearra gave him a playful smile. "Well, I care."
"Don't! Please, don't. One day you'll be the death of me…" Yuzhou's soul practically left his body.
Camearra only huffed and turned her head away, clearly sulking.
At that moment, Munakata frowned. "By the way, just now all the Zoig monsters suddenly withdrew back into R'lyeh. And the spreading darkness… it all shrank back too. What happened in there?"
"Yeah, we were in the middle of fighting them when they just vanished," Horii added. "Did something happen inside?"
Shinjo also noticed Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb for the first time. "Wait… who are they?"
"Ah… those would be the Dark Giants of R'lyeh," Yuzhou explained.
"What?!" The Victory Team tensed instantly, glaring at the three, every muscle on edge.
"So the darkness earlier… that was their doing?" Munakata demanded.
"Correct," Yuzhou admitted calmly. "But now I'm working on turning them into Giants of Light. And the darkness you saw? Camearra herself recalled it."
As he spoke, he introduced them one by one:
"This is Camearra."
Rena's expression instantly darkened. Camearra. That name she had heard Daigo mumble countless times in his sleep. The fact that Camearra wasn't even looking at Daigo only made her suspicion shift elsewhere… specifically toward Yuzhou.
"And this one, the flashy-haired one, is Hudra."
"The muscular philosopher here is Darramb."
"…Not sure I understood the 'philosopher' part," Horii muttered. "But they're Dark Giants nonetheless, right?"
"Exactly." Yuzhou nodded.
Masaki folded his arms, still doubtful. "Yuzhou, you said you want to turn them into Giants of Light. Do you… actually have a method?"
"Indeed I do." Yuzhou smiled faintly. "I plan to test your Photon Particle Converter."
The device had been stored in his spatial bracelet ever since Cain was defeated. If there was any tool that could facilitate such a conversion, this was it.
"Well then, no reason to wait. We can test it now," Masaki replied firmly.
"Alright."
Yuzhou pulled out the Photon Particle Converter and set it carefully on level ground. Then he placed the Spark Lens into the core slot.
Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb had their own transformation devices, of course, but those were steeped in darkness. For safety, Yuzhou used his own Spark Lens as the focus.
"Camearra, are you willing to try?" Yuzhou asked, meeting her gaze. "It may hurt—lightning arcs will pierce your body during the process."
"Hmph. Pain is nothing." Camearra stepped forward without hesitation, standing tall at the center of the converter. Her confidence radiated like fire.
"Now what?" Yuzhou glanced at Masaki.
"Now… lightning arcs should strike her body, and then… the conversion completes." Masaki frowned.
Except nothing happened.
Camearra stood there silently, unchanging, as if the device were nothing more than a circle of useless metal.
The converter did not respond at all.