"Mr. Asakura, can you help us locate Belial now?"
Yuzhou finally voiced the purpose of their visit. The main reason they had come was to learn where Belial was hiding.
Asakura knelt on the tatami, closed his eyes, and entered deep meditation. His mind drifted into a dark crimson void where countless blood-red tendrils writhed like living shadows. As he wandered deeper, a pair of razor-sharp scarlet eyes suddenly appeared before him.
Startled, Asakura's eyes flew open. He exhaled slowly.
"Well?" Zero asked, watching him intently. "Did you find him?"
"…Yes." Asakura gave a solemn nod.
Inside that crimson dimension, Belial narrowed his burning eyes toward the distance. Someone was peering into his domain—he could feel it.
But aside from Kei Fukude, whose thoughts could manifest here, no one else should have been able to intrude.
Just as suspicion flickered across his mind, Kei appeared before him.
"So, it's the Strum Alien," Belial muttered. He immediately dismissed his unease, assuming it was Kei's presence he had sensed.
"Lord Belial." Kei bowed with his usual reverence, treating Belial as a god.
"Report," Belial commanded, one claw pointing at him.
"We tracked the light of the Little Star," Kei said, lowering his head, "but it suddenly disappeared—as if someone had erected a barrier to conceal it."
"Was it Tiga?" Belial's first thought was his old enemy. In his heart, Tiga remained the greatest thorn in his side, the rival who had scarred him in that unforgettable battle at the Monster Graveyard.
"It's unclear for now. We're still investigating," Kei answered calmly.
"Then see to it the plan proceeds without flaw." With that, Belial's image dissolved into the void.
"As you command." Kei bowed again before his projection vanished, his mind returning to Earth.
Outside, Yuzhou and Leito—still under Zero's control—had left Asakura's home and returned Moco to Takashi Arai.
The three took a taxi out of the town. Once outside the shielding barrier that had hidden Moco's glow, both Yuzhou and Zero grew tense. Now, Kei would certainly sense the Little Star's light again.
Yuzhou had already explained Kei's true nature to Zero: a Strum Alien, once saved by Belial and now his fanatical proxy.
Zero's stance was simple: "Next chance we get, we kill him."
To him, Belial's followers were all the same—eliminate them if possible.
Yuzhou agreed in principle, though he knew Kei was slippery, even more devious than Zenna. Finding him, let alone killing him, was no easy task. Kei had been granted Belial's power, wielding the Fusion Riser to merge with monster DNA and gain frightening strength.
"Strum Aliens weren't originally an evil race, were they?" Zero mused aloud. "They didn't even have much combat ability."
"True," Yuzhou explained. "But when their homeworld faced extinction, Belial appeared and saved Kei. For Belial, it was just to use him. But for Kei, it was a second life. From then on, he worshiped Belial as a god, his loyalty absolute. Later, Belial even gave him energy, allowing him to fuse and ascend into a stronger form."
"…I see." Zero nodded, understanding.
When they returned to the park and got out of the taxi, the ground suddenly trembled. Dirt burst upward as a colossal monster emerged before them.
"M–Monster!"
Arai's legs gave out, and he collapsed in terror. But clutching Moco tightly, he struggled back to his feet, determined to protect it.
"Yuzhou, take him and run! Leave this one to me!"
Zero ordered firmly.
Yuzhou nodded, hoisting Arai like a chick under one arm before sprinting to safety.
"Perfect timing," Zero muttered through Leito. "I just recovered from my injuries—let's make you my warm-up!"
He pulled out the Zero Eye, pressed it on, and transformed in a blaze of red, blue, and silver light. Ultraman Zero now stood tall before the charging beast.
From a safe distance, Yuzhou and Arai turned back just in time to see him.
"It's an Ultraman!" Arai cried, stunned. "And not Geed—this one's even cooler!"
"He's Ultraman Zero," Yuzhou explained, watching his star-struck expression with faint exasperation. Still, curiosity got the better of him. "So, between Geed, Zero, and that new Ultraman we've seen… which do you like best?"
"The new one?" Arai thought. "You mean that aloof-looking one?"
"Exactly. That's Ultraman Tiga."
"Ohhh, so his name is Tiga." Arai nodded earnestly. "He's actually really cool—kind of that cold, handsome type."
"Good eye." Yuzhou clapped his shoulder, grinning. "Great minds think alike!"
The monster before them was Arstron. Its ash-blue body was crowned with massive horns, used both to intimidate and to attack. But Yuzhou knew better—those horns were its weak point. Break them, and its will to fight would collapse.
Zero clearly knew as well. The moment he appeared, he launched a kick straight at Arstron's head.
BOOM!
The horned beast crashed to the ground, shattering pavement. Yet it quickly lumbered back up and charged, swinging its heavy tail.
Zero braced instead of dodging, catching the blow with both arms. BAM! The impact rattled him backward several steps.
"This brute's strength really is insane," Zero muttered, gripping its tail. "Worthy of its reputation."
Planting his feet, he spun, whirling Arstron like a giant windmill before slamming it aside.
"Zero is amazing!" Arai cheered wildly.
Even Moco leapt from his arms, squeaking, "Moco!" as a pulse of light burst from its body—shooting straight into Zero's Color Timer.
"…What the—?" Yuzhou's eyes widened. That light… wasn't that Geed's Moonlight capsule? How did Zero get it?!
Zero glanced down at the glow inside him. Sure enough—it was the Ultraman Cosmos capsule.
In the shadows, Kei watched in disbelief. His carefully laid plan had been for Geed to receive that capsule, so Kei could later steal it.
But now, the capsule had gone to Zero instead.
His plan… had gone completely off track!