"Ultraman Julian" had been nothing more than a disguise.
Yuzhou had used a piece of black technology developed by Hikari—an Appearance Simulation Card—to impersonate her.
The real Princess Julian was still safely in the Land of Light.
Given the gravity of the situation, it was absolutely impossible to allow the princess of the Land of Light to risk herself on the battlefield.
"How could it be you?!"
Tartarus climbed out from the deep crater in the cliffside, shaking rubble from his body as disbelief filled his voice.
Just moments ago, it had been Julian—Princess of the Land of Light—who had even placed her hand on his abdominal armour.
And in the next instant, she had turned into this detestable man.
"Tartarus," Yuzhou said with a grin as he looked down at him, "how was it? Comfortable?"
"I spit on you!"
Tartarus wanted to spit in rage—but being unable to do so, his fury exploded instead.
Without hesitation, he unleashed his ultimate technique.
"Absolute · Destruction!"
Between his two arms, terrifying energy rapidly condensed. In the next moment, a waterfall of golden lightning poured forth, crashing violently toward Yuzhou.
"Glittering Barrier Shield!"
Already in his Glittering Form, Yuzhou instantly deployed the shield. Countless rays of light wrapped around his body, dazzling brilliantly against the dark crimson planetary battlefield.
BOOM—!!!
The golden lightning engulfed Yuzhou completely.
The battlefield fell silent.
All eyes were fixed on the raging energy storm, hearts tightening.
Could Tiga really withstand such an overwhelming attack?
"Senior Tiga!"
The closest to him, Grigio Ultraman, cried out in alarm.
But then—
"Don't worry, Grigio."
A calm voice emerged from within the energy surge.
"What?!"
Tartarus abruptly ceased his attack, staring in disbelief at the fading lightning.
A radiant figure stood there—completely unharmed.
Golden light gathered in Yuzhou's hands.
"Glittering · Zeperion Ray!"
SHHHH—!!!
The golden L-shaped beam erupted forward.
Caught completely off guard, Tartarus was struck head-on and blasted once more into the rocky mountainside.
The cliff collapsed again, black stone raining down from the violent impact.
"Damn it!"
Barely surviving, Tartarus shattered the emergency barrier he had barely managed to erect. Even so, the damage was severe.
Seeing his master forced into a disadvantage, Zett, the Space Fear Demon, immediately acted.
With a wave of his hand, yet another batch of Zettons was summoned onto the battlefield.
As the ultimate weapon of the Baltan lineage, Zett—an artificial lifeform—possessed the terrifying ability to summon Zettons endlessly.
It was, without exaggeration, an absurdly broken power.
"I've had enough! Leave this to me!!!"
One of the four so-called "background Ultramen" finally snapped.
Blue light surged from his body.
In an instant, his disguise shattered—and standing there was the figure everyone knew all too well.
Ultraman.
"Ultraman?!"
Those unaware gasped in shock.
They had thought the four were merely strong supporting fighters—but one of them had been the original Ultraman in disguise all along.
Clearly, he too had been using Hikari's Appearance Simulation Card.
"If one of them is Ultraman… then the other three…"
Grigio's gaze shifted toward the remaining figures, her mind racing.
Before she could react—
"SHUWATCH!"
Ultraman let out a thunderous battle cry, bent forward, crossed his arms—
And fired the Spacium Ray directly into Zett's Zetton army.
"Huh?!"
Ultraman Taiga, who had just completed his three-man fusion into Tri-Strium Form, froze mid-motion.
He could only watch as Ultraman fired first.
And this Spacium Ray was different.
Not only was it denser and more powerful—it carried something else.
Anger.
"This…"
Yuzhou watched silently.
Back in the Land of Light, when Ultraman learned that the royal spacecraft might be intercepted by a Zetton army, he had insisted on joining the mission.
After all, he had been the first Ultraman to ever fight Zetton.
And he had repeatedly warned everyone:
"Do not use beam attacks against Zetton."
Yet on this battlefield, beams had been flying everywhere.
And worse—
They were working.
That alone was enough to inflict emotional damage on Ultraman.
Now, he had finally snapped.
And when he struck, it was no ordinary Spacium Ray.
BOOOOM—!!!!!
The beam detonated within the Zetton army.
A massive explosion erupted, flames spiralling upward into a towering mushroom cloud.
"My god… is this Ultraman's true power?!"
"No wonder he's a veteran…"
The Ultramen murmured among themselves, stunned.
The quiet one—the one who never stood in the spotlight—was, in truth, the real heavyweight.
"So this is Ultraman's accumulated resentment…"
Yuzhou understood perfectly.
Ultraman had been defeated by Zetton because of beam attacks.
And now, everyone else was casually firing beams and winning.
That contradiction alone was enough to fuel this explosion of willpower.
So much for logic—
Ultraman strength had always been willpower incarnate.
Today, Yuzhou truly witnessed it.
"Heh…"
Tartarus emerged yet again from the rubble, even more battered than before.
Exhaling heavily, he raised one hand and pointed directly at Yuzhou.
"Tiga. You have angered me."
"Is this what you call powerless rage?" Yuzhou replied coldly.
"I had no intention of taking this step so soon," Tartarus said, golden light surging behind Yuzhou, but you've left me no choice."
A golden wormhole tore open in space.
"Come forth—Army of the Kingdom!"