Releasing the Zeperion Ray while still in human form—this was Yuzhou's first attempt.
Unlike after transforming, he could now only rely on the Light energy stored within his human body to condense and fire the beam.
As that Light surged outward, Yuzhou raised his arms into the familiar L-shape.
A violet-white ray erupted from his hands, shooting straight toward Giestron.
The power was hardly diminished.
The Zeperion Ray slammed directly into Giestron's chest. The monster, which had been preparing another electromagnetic attack, never anticipated that a mere "ground insect" could unleash such overwhelming force.
Caught completely off guard, Giestron's body stiffened.
Then it collapsed.
A violent explosion followed, shaking the earth.
Yuzhou turned his back on the fireball without a second glance and walked calmly toward Haruki's father.
Even an explosion that thundered into the clouds failed to wake the unconscious man.
After a brief moment of thought, Yuzhou decided not to transform. Instead, he retrieved Charija's briefcase, adjusted the time settings, and generated a white wormhole.
He carried Haruki's father inside.
When they emerged from the wormhole, Haruki and Z had already defeated the fourth-dimensional monster Bullton.
A sphere of light enveloped Haruki as he returned to the command room. At the same time, Juggler stepped out of the restroom.
"Now that was a satisfying bathroom break."
Stretching lazily, Juggler glanced out the window.
"Oh? Bullton's been taken care of already?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Haruki responded promptly.
Although he did not fully understand his captain's true identity, Haruki knew one thing for certain—Snake Warehouse Captain Juggler was anything but ordinary.
He was close to Tiga-senpai.
And he knew many Ultramen.
Haruki had once asked Z whether he recognized Juggler, but Z had answered that he had never seen him before.
"Hmm?" Juggler suddenly frowned. "Why is there an extra person here?"
His gaze fell on the sofa beside Yuzhou—on Haruki's father.
Haruki froze.
Then he turned.
The moment he saw the familiar face, his heart jolted.
"Dad…!"
His eyes reddened as he rushed forward and called out.
But his father remained unconscious.
Even so, Haruki could barely hold back his tears.
His father… had truly come back.
"Yuzhou-senpai, thank you so much!!!"
Haruki turned around and bowed deeply.
"No need," Yuzhou waved it off calmly. "It was nothing. I promised I'd save your father."
"But…" Haruki suddenly hesitated. "My father did die back then. If you brought him from the past to the present… wouldn't that cause chaos?"
"Don't worry," Yuzhou replied. "Haruki—when your father died, was his body ever found?"
"…No," Haruki shook his head. "Several people went missing at the scene. They were all declared dead."
"Oh, right!" Haruki suddenly remembered. "Back then, my mom and I were running away. I looked back and saw a beam of light hit the monster!"
"Then the monster exploded!"
"That was me," Yuzhou said. "I fired that beam."
"That was you, senpai?!"
Haruki scratched his head, stunned.
"So… you went back, defeated the monster, and brought my father here?"
"Correct."
Yuzhou nodded.
"So that's actually possible?!"
Juggler blurted it out at the same time as Haruki—then immediately realized he had overreacted.
"Juggler?" Yuzhou looked at him curiously.
But then he understood.
Juggler had thought of a way to bring Mikoto back—
By taking her away before her death.
"Juggler," Yuzhou said calmly, "you know that won't work."
Mikoto's death had been witnessed by many. If she were taken away at that moment, the timeline would inevitably collapse.
That was why Yuzhou had only saved her in a parallel timeline back then.
"…Yeah."
Juggler sighed and shook his head, abandoning the thought.
"Captain?"
Haruki looked between the two of them, completely confused.
Bullton's destruction had barely affected Yuzhou's residence—aside from a large hole Haruki had punched through the window.
Watching the cleanup crews outside, Yuzhou decided he really should install metal bars.
"This Bullton wasn't released by Celebro," Yuzhou muttered after thinking it through. "It was originally spat out by the Space Ferocious Shark—Genegarg."
Standing up, he concentrated Light into his eyes and looked toward the area where Bullton had been defeated.
Distorted spatial ripples lingered there.
Yuzhou's expression darkened.
As expected—
Before long, several workers cleaning the battlefield vanished into thin air, terrifying everyone else.
"At this rate… that thing is still going to come out."
Although Yuzhou possessed space-time abilities, Bullton's energy differed fundamentally from standard temporal power. He could not repair this distortion.
After informing Juggler by phone, Yuzhou went to sleep.
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight shone across Yuzhou's handsome face.
"Morning already…"
He stretched and pulled back the blanket—
Then froze.
His roof was gone.
All the walls were gone.
His home had become an open-air structure.
So much for "morning sunlight"—the bed itself was exposed.
"…What the hell?"
Looking around, Yuzhou saw nearby buildings riddled with massive holes or spewing black smoke.
There was no doubt.
They had been attacked.
Compared to others, Yuzhou was lucky—at least he'd slept through the night.
Picking up his phone, he noticed multiple missed calls.
From Haruki.
From Juggler.
After a brief pause, he called Juggler back.
"Hello, Juggler. What happened?"
"Void Monster—Greeza has appeared!"
Juggler's voice was unusually grave.
Greeza was infamous across the universe.
A void monster.
Mass: zero.
Weight: zero.
All values: zero.
If Yuzhou had his way, the name "ZERO" should belong to Greeza—but unfortunately, Zero was already Zero.
"Relax," Yuzhou said calmly. "Just let Haruki handle it."
"…Can he really win?"
Juggler was doubtful. Haruki and Z were still rookies—facing a boss-level monster like Greeza was no small matter.