"Asuka! If you can still stand, move to our left side, now!"
Yuzhou shouted over the roaring clash of energy beams, his voice echoing across the battlefield. Behind him, Asuka was still lying flat on the ground, barely conscious.
"Okay, senior, I—"
Asuka tried to rise, but the blow he had taken from Five King earlier was far too powerful. That single punch had nearly extinguished the colour timer on his chest, and his body ached so much he could barely move.
"Asuka, hang in there!"
Yuzhou urged him, sensing that Asuka was close to passing out.
If Asuka couldn't stand, things would get difficult — because that meant he might end up being the one on the left side of this beam struggle.
And everyone knew what that meant.
"I'm coming, senior!"
To Yuzhou's relief, Asuka somehow managed to get to his feet through sheer willpower and staggered forward.
Except… he started running toward the right.
Yuzhou: "..."
"Asuka, come back! That's the right side — I said left, left!!"
Yuzhou's voice rose in panic. Clearly, Asuka's head had been rattled hard in that last punch — he couldn't even tell left from right anymore.
He'd have to fix that later… maybe with some extra training.
But Asuka either didn't hear him or didn't care. He plopped down on the ground to Yuzhou's right, watching the light clash unfold.
"Oh no… I'm screwed," Yuzhou muttered under his breath. He braced himself, ready to take the full brunt of Five King's attack.
And yet—
Something unexpected happened.
The Powerful Zeperion Beam he unleashed began to overwhelm Five King's Five-in-One Ultimate Beam.
Sparks flew, energy crackled — and slowly but surely, Yuzhou's beam pushed the monster's attack back.
Zzzzzzz…!
The two lights collided in a shrieking explosion of force, and then—Five King's beam was completely swallowed.
The golden energy engulfed the creature, slamming directly into its chest.
"Senior, at this point, I've run out of words to praise you," Asuka said weakly, sitting on the ground and giving him a shaky thumbs-up.
"No," Yuzhou replied, blinking in disbelief. "Asuka… you're the amazing one here."
Everyone knew the rule of beam battles —
The one on the left side always loses.
If Asuka had actually gone to the left, Yuzhou might have been vaporized right now.
But thanks to his confused sense of direction, he'd unintentionally saved them both.
The Zeperion Beam died down. Yuzhou stopped his attack before it could kill the creature.
He knew Charija was invested in capturing Five King, not destroying it.
The explosion left Five King scorched and sparking, but alive. Its body was unbelievably tough — though weakened by the beam clash, it still clung to life.
"Eat this!"
At that moment, Charija came swooping down from above, having recovered from being blasted away earlier.
Zoiger fired off another Flame Bomb at Five King.
BOOM!
The explosion struck true — the already weakened monster let out a faint growl before collapsing entirely, falling unconscious.
"Charija! Don't finish it off!" Yuzhou shouted quickly. "Don't kill it!"
"What?" Charija blinked, lowering his weapon. "You mean… you've already defeated it?"
"Not killed — just rendered it unable to fight," Yuzhou explained.
"Heh-heh…"
Charija grinned, pulling a capsule from his belt. "Then this'll do nicely!"
He tossed the capsule toward the fallen monster.
Click!
In a flash of light, the unconscious Five King dissolved into energy and was absorbed into the capsule.
It wobbled in the air for a moment… but this time, it didn't explode.
"Yes!" Charija laughed, calling the capsule back into his hand. "I caught Five King!"
Yuzhou shook his head as he dissolved into shimmering light particles, returning to human form beside Asuka.
Something about all this didn't quite feel like an Ultraman world anymore.
It was starting to feel more like a… monster-catching game?
Asuka reappeared beside him, panting heavily.
"You okay, Asuka?" Yuzhou asked, supporting the exhausted young man.
"I'm fine, senior," Asuka gasped, catching his breath. "Just… drained."
"I can tell," Yuzhou said with a knowing nod. "Yeah, very drained."
Asuka: "…"
Yuzhou made a mental note — the kid needed some serious rest… and maybe a nutritious meal.
He even considered cooking him a pot of pig brain soup later for recovery.
Charija soon landed nearby, beaming with pride. Without Yuzhou's help, he never could've captured Five King this easily.
"Charija," Yuzhou said, pulling out another capsule from his belt — the one containing the fake Tiga. "These capsules — you just throw them to summon, right?"
"Huh?"
Charija leaned closer, eyes widening. "Wait, you caught that fake Tiga?!"
He hadn't even known his capsules could capture Ultramen.
"What the—?!"
He stared at Yuzhou, stunned.
"Yeah," Yuzhou replied casually. "The fake Tiga came from the same source as your Five King. So, it's not surprising I could seal it too."
"I see…"
Charija fell silent, thinking it over.
So theoretically, he could try this on… the Ultras of the Land of Light?
Interesting.
"So," Yuzhou continued, "to use it, I just throw it, right?"
"Exactly," Charija confirmed. "Just like I do — toss it out, and it activates."
Even though it was technically his own equipment, Charija didn't demand Yuzhou return it.
After all, Yuzhou had earned it through battle — and besides, they were friends.
"Got it." Yuzhou nodded, satisfied.
Standing nearby, Asuka's eyes lit up with interest.
"Senior, if that's the case… could we capture some monsters too? Maybe use them in our fights?"
If monsters could be used against other monsters, battles would get a lot easier!
"You'll have to ask Charija about that," Yuzhou said, shrugging. "The capsules are his, after all."
"Uh, Mr. Charija…" Asuka began hesitantly. He didn't know Charija well, and asking for something so directly was awkward.
But Charija chuckled and waved a hand. "You're his junior, right? Sure — take a few."
He handed over five empty capsules without hesitation.
Don't be fooled by how Charija had earlier used his capsules as shields — after the fight, he'd collected every single one like a pro.
"Thank you, Mr. Charija!" Asuka said, eyes gleaming with gratitude.