"If I'm not mistaken… you can no longer transform into a Giant of Light, can you?"
It was a rare moment — Belial suppressed his anger and looked at Yu Zhou with a twisted smile.
"You're quite observant," Yu Zhou replied calmly, not showing the slightest hint of fear.
"Heh… if I didn't have a few questions for you, you'd already be dead a thousand times over."
Belial crouched down, his head lowering close to Yu Zhou's face. His sharp, crimson eyes gleamed wickedly.
"Oh? You want to ask how to get back, right?"
Yu Zhou smiled faintly — he already knew what Belial wanted to know.
Even though Belial had managed to open a wormhole, it led only to some unknown dimension. Now, all he wanted was to return to his original universe — to the Land of Light — and carry out his revenge.
Of course, before leaving, he also intended to deal with the "nuisance" in front of him.
"I can tell you," Yu Zhou said bluntly, "but only if you destroy Dark Lugiel for me."
Dark Lugiel: "???"
"Hmph, I'm not falling for such a petty trick," Belial sneered, glancing at Dark Lugiel. "But if you don't tell me… then I'll just turn this Earth into my base and raise my army of monsters here instead."
As he spoke, Belial raised his Ultimate Battler device toward the sky. Countless streaks of purple light shot upward, then scattered and crashed down to the ground, materializing into monsters one after another.
Apparently, Belial had already filled his Ultimate Battler with all the monsters from this Earth.
"You're threatening me?" Yu Zhou's expression hardened as he gave a cold snort.
"That's right," Belial laughed darkly. "Threats are my specialty."
Then, without warning, he reached toward the ground — grabbing at Camearra, who lay nearby, still wrapped in a cocoon of light.
"Don't you dare!"
Yu Zhou reacted instantly. With a shout, he gathered the last of his light energy into his palm and fired it toward Belial's hand.
A brilliant beam struck Belial's arm, halting his movement.
Although caught off guard, Belial only gave a low growl and then chuckled.
"So, you still have a few tricks left," he said. "But such attacks must consume a lot of your light energy, don't they?"
He smirked. "Let's see if you can even manage a second shot."
Yu Zhou fell silent.
It was true — that last blast had drained nearly every bit of light within him. He'd gathered what little remained in his body just to stop Belial once.
Now… he had nothing left.
"In that case," Yu Zhou murmured, "let me show you… what true darkness really is."
He reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a strange object — the Dark Sparklence.
The black crystal rod unfolded, revealing two dark wings etched with sinister patterns. From within it, a heavy, oppressive aura of darkness spread outward.
Countless arcs of purple and black lightning converged upon the rod. Then, in a flash of dim light, a gigantic silver-and-black figure appeared before Belial.
"Dark Tiga?"
Belial was visibly startled. Seeing the giant standing before him, he gripped his Ultimate Battler tightly.
Dark Lugiel, too, was taken aback — staring at the transformed Yu Zhou in astonishment.
Dark Tiga… was not an unfamiliar name to Lugiel. He even once possessed a Dark Tiga Spark Doll himself.
Though he couldn't be sure if that one was truly the original.
After all, Tiga had a habit of leaving fragments of his body or light throughout different universes — allowing those with traces of his genetic light to awaken new forms.
"He's a fake! Let's take him together!"
Dark Lugiel barked, raising his Dark Spark and lunging at Yu Zhou.
"You're right — doesn't look like the real one," Belial agreed, pointing the Ultimate Battler at Yu Zhou and firing a surge of lightning.
Yu Zhou didn't bother to argue. Instead, he kept dodging Lugiel's frenzied thrusts while raising an Ultra Barrier to block Belial's attacks.
The intense clash and shockwaves stirred the ground, and the commotion woke Camearra from her slumber.
The cocoon of light around her slowly faded as she opened her eyes — only to see Dark Tiga battling Belial and Dark Lugiel.
"Camearra! Take Daigo and get out of here!" Yu Zhou shouted, pointing toward Daigo, who was still unconscious nearby.
Belial had unleashed countless monsters from his Ultimate Battler — if Daigo's luck hadn't held, he might have been trampled long ago.
Camearra wanted to transform and fight beside Yu Zhou, but without enough energy, her transformation failed. She clenched her teeth and gave up the idea.
Instead, she rushed to Daigo's side, waking him up before helping him run toward the small Plasma Spark that was still embedded in the ground.
Meanwhile, across the world, chaos filled the United Global Conference Hall.
"Dark Tiga!"
"Dark Tiga has appeared!"
"Is he an enemy or an ally?!"
"Mr. Keichii, Mr. Hasegawa!" one representative shouted over the commotion.
"What is it?" a member of the Japanese delegation asked calmly.
"Is Dark Tiga good or evil? Is he strong? If he's good, could he turn bad? And can he defeat Belial and Dark Lugiel?!"
The questions poured in all at once — confusion and tension spread through the entire room.
"Well…" Hasegawa hesitated, then replied,
"There's a theory that Tiga was once the strongest Dark Giant thirty million years ago."
"But that's only a vague concept," Keichii added. "It's never been fully explained just how strong he really was."
"Belial himself is also a corrupted Ultraman of darkness," Keichii continued. "If those two fight… the sparks that fly will be something incredible to witness."
People across the world were glued to the live satellite footage, eager to know the outcome.
Would Dark Tiga easily defeat Belial? Would he dominate, or be crushed?
Yet one thing everyone noticed — the transformation scene was clearly recorded.
The one who became Dark Tiga… was a human.
Though the satellite footage was blurry, it was obvious from his build and movements that the person transforming was a man — a human being.
"You see? Every Ultraman who appears on Earth seems to have a human host," one observer muttered.
Someone else quickly countered, naming a few exceptions — and the room descended into debate.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhou — unaware of how close he'd come to revealing himself — focused only on the battle.
Dodging Lugiel's spear, he gritted his teeth. "That Dark Spark of yours… looks like you won't be needing it anymore!"
Catching an opening, Yu Zhou grabbed at the weapon as it thrust toward him—