As the Mebius Brace radiated light, the symbol of infinity manifested once again.
A pillar of light shot up from the ground. After the sun's light had been blotted out by the Swarm, Mebius, relying on his own brilliance, brought a glimmer of light back to the world.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage—
Ace Pilot: "Ultraman Mebius... he's exactly like Tiga. He knows he's no match, yet he still steps onto the battlefield without a shred of hesitation, doesn't he?"
In the world of Tiga, the TPC's famous ace pilot, Shinjoh, had a personality that hated evil with a passion.
Therefore, when he saw those insects trying to turn Earth into a hive and use humanity as maternal bodies for propagation, he was, unsurprisingly, enraged.
That's why he was so emotional when he saw Mebius transform without hesitation, and his fondness for Mebius skyrocketed.
Yokai Sage: "Ultraman is such a peculiar race. They aren't the same species as humans, yet they love humanity more than humans love themselves."
In Gensokyo, the golden-haired old hag—ah, no, the beautiful golden-haired young lady—was staring intently at Mebius on the screen, a slight smile playing on her lips.
It had to be said that the Ultramen were truly paragons of high moral standing. Whether it was Mebius or the Ultra Brothers, they all thought of others without regard for themselves.
Great Emperor of the Dark Universe: "The Ultra race of the Land of Light... such an irritating light. No matter how faint, it's as annoying as a fly. One day, I will slaughter my way back to the Land of Light, and that will be the day of the Ultra race's doom!"
Absolutian Tartarus: "The Emperor of the Dark Universe? Is that Alien Empera? Hmph... a dangerous being, indeed. The Ultra race is irrelevant, but the Land of Light is destined to become the property of my race. That great lord will awaken soon, and the battle with the Land of Light will begin shortly!"
Yukinoshita Yukino: "...Are all villains this blunt nowadays? The light curtain connects everyone; the Ultramen are watching, you know..."
In the My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU world, Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't help but make a retort upon seeing the astonishing words of the two great villains above.
It was only because the Ultramen had a high overall moral standard; otherwise, they'd probably start a flame war with those two right here...
---o---
Light Curtain Video—
Mebius's appearance certainly gave the human military and the members of GUYS a shock.
Of course, what they hadn't expected even more was that the naive young man in GUYS was actually the legendary Ultra Warrior.
And he was the Mebius who had been fighting alongside them all this time.
The shock was akin to discovering that the childhood friend you grew up with had suddenly become a billionaire.
Marina opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the swarm in the sky wouldn't allow it, sweeping down towards the ground.
The Sting-Wings vibrated their wings in the air, and a sky full of wing dust descended like gently falling raindrops, adding a hazy hue to the world.
Even with the gas masks they had prepared beforehand, the wing dust, which permeated every inch of the air, still managed to affect countless people.
They lost themselves in the endless insect tide, falling into the beautiful dream woven by the Swarm.
Seeing this, Mebius materialized the Mebium Blade from his brace and leaped into the sky-filling swarm.
"Mirai!!"
Seeing him go, Marina shouted the name of Mebius's human form.
But the scene she witnessed was Mebius being completely overwhelmed by the insect tide. Even an Ultraman would find it hard to resist an endless swarm.
A sense of doomsday despair filled the hearts of the humans who saw this, casting a shadow over everyone.
Just then, a light as scorching as the sun appeared within the Swarm, reigniting hope in people's hearts.
A crimson beam burned all surrounding Sting-Wings to nothing, not even leaving ashes behind. Even the wing dust in the air was incinerated by the searing temperature.
Looking closely at Mebius's body through the Swarm, his once silver-and-red form was now emitting heat like magma. The very air was distorted by the high temperature.
"Haah— Haah—!"
He had attached the remaining power of light in his body to its surface, much like Taro's Ultra Dynamite, causing his body temperature to reach that of the sun's surface.
It was a scorching power he was releasing at the cost of his own life—an Ultraman's deep love for the people of this planet.
While burning himself, Mebius's Mebium Blade did not rest, swinging again and again.
How many tens of thousands of insects had been buried under his golden blade?
In Mebius's heart now, there was only one conviction: to hold on. To hold on until Father of Ultra arrived with the Space Garrison.
As long as he came, humanity would be saved, and Brother Man and the others would be saved too.
Inspired by Mebius, the Earth and its people erupted with astonishing power.
"ROAR—!!!" "WOOO—!!!"
The earth trembled and the ground split open. Subterranean monsters that had been dormant for millennia reawakened at the call of the planet's will.
There were dozens of them, including many familiar faces.
Golza, Melba, Red King, Telesdon, and so on.
They had lived underground for ages and were the Earth's native monsters. Naturally, they could not accept their habitat being turned into a nest for the Swarm.
With the arrival of the monsters, a massive brawl began.
Flames, ice, breath attacks, and giant boulders thrown into the sky—all sorts of attacks were unleashed.
"Excellent! Even the monsters are out here helping us! Humanity is saved!"
The human soldiers on the ground embraced each other in excitement, as if they had seen the path forward.
But what greeted them was a reprimand from the comms: "Do not leave the future of the Earth entirely to the Ultramen and monsters! We humans must fight too!"
As the words fell, the morale of the human faction soared. They raised their weapons and aimed at the swarm in the sky.
The roar of cannon fire washed over the land, making the very ground tremble. This was humanity's own iron torrent.
Countless attacks were unleashed, hurtling towards the swarm in the sky, causing immeasurable losses to the insects in the blink of an eye.
In that instant, the Earth was transformed into a meat grinder for the Swarm. The hundreds of millions of insects now seemed to have hit a wall of steel, unable to advance a single step.
The high-level human officials and the video audience who witnessed this couldn't help but show expressions of excitement.
However... for the Swarm, this was ultimately nothing more than a meaningless death struggle.
---o---
Light Curtain Barrage—
Witnessing the endless Swarm being halted by the combined effort, the viewers of the light curtain fell into a state of excitement.
Since its appearance, the Swarm had hardly met any real resistance. Its blitzkrieg-like tactics had annihilated countless planets before they even had a chance to react.
So far, Earth was the only planet to have temporarily repelled the insect tide.
Kasumigaoka Utaha: "They stopped it! They really stopped it! This is great! Now humanity has hope!"
In the world of Saekano, the long, black-haired girl leaped up as if she were having a chuunibyou moment, excitedly watching the screen.
No matter the era, the sight of people with hope and light in their hearts uniting to defeat a powerful enemy was always enough to stir the soul.
The Overseer: "An expected outcome. If all that fighting power couldn't even stop the most common and weakest of the Swarm, the Sting-Wings, then it would be truly pathetic."
Compared to the young girl, Otto from the Honkai world was not so idealistic.
From a cosmic perspective, Earth was too close to the center of the Swarm. The Sting-Wings were manageable; their only special trait was their illusion-inducing powder.
If it were the Star-Shattering Swarm King, the entire Earth would be a matter of a single swing of its scythe. In the face of absolute power, humanity's hope was so pitiful.
Ruan Mei: "Alas, how pitiful. To fight Propagation with finite life is the most tragic thing. Unless one can annihilate it in a single blow like an Aeon, such resistance will only make the Swarm more ferocious."
---o---
Light Curtain Video—
The scene continued, just as the audience outside the light curtain had predicted.
The defensive line formed by the Earth, Ultraman, and humanity could, in theory, hold for half an hour at most.
In reality, however, it only held for five minutes.
The reason for this huge discrepancy was the figure loitering just outside the planet.
The Star-Shattering Swarm King: Skaracabaz—the Swarm King that had killed the Ultra Brothers. Observed from space, its mere shadow was larger than several Earths combined.
This Emanator of Propagation, a true child of the Swarm King Tayzzyronth, an existence that had become a nightmare for countless universes, was now right next to Earth.
It used its compound eye, the size of a moon, to gaze down upon the insignificant planet like a lofty god.
The scythe in its hand was like the blade of the Grim Reaper. It seemed that with a single light swing, it could easily reap the Earth.
"Brother..." Mebius murmured. Since the Star-Shattering Swarm King was here, it meant that Brother Seven and Brother Jack, who had gone to stop it, were already...
His fists clenched unconsciously, and endless hatred surged in Mebius's eyes.
The almost corporeal hatred even caused the temperature of his skin's surface to rise again.
With the arrival of the Star-Shattering Swarm King, the swarm, as if on command, instantly abandoned its assault on Earth.
Instead, they scrambled to retreat, like a receding tide, in an immense hurry.
"They're..."
As if a certain possibility had occurred to him, Mebius's expression was filled with terror.
Could it be... that because this thing was about to make its move, it was controlling the swarm to retreat to avoid friendly fire?
A single blow had left a gash several meters deep on Brother Man's body. Its mere existence was comparable to a star. A strike from such a being was enough to split the Earth in two.
An opponent of this level... perhaps only the Supreme Commander himself from the entire Land of Light could possibly defeat it.
With his own clumsy skills, he probably couldn't even break its defense.
Mebius's expression was grim. His body, heated to a crimson red, stared at the Swarm King in the sky.
That massive blue body, and the scythe in its hand—it was perfectly designed to cut a planet in two. It was as if it were born for the sole purpose of destroying planets.
The Swarm King raised its scythe and swung it down gently, as if cutting a thread.
Within that light and easy attack lay the power to split the Earth in half.
No, I can't stop it. A thin thread can never stop a sharp blade. Earth is no match for the Swarm.
A desperate thought spread through Mebius's mind. It seemed he would soon be reduced to nothing before that scythe.
Perhaps his only regret was that he had failed to protect the people of Earth...
It wasn't just Mebius. The people on Earth who saw this scene all held their breath, watching with rapt attention.
After all, this might just be... humanity's final end.
Sobs echoed in the underground shelters. A sense of despair lingered in the heart of every human.
But just then, a ball of fire came hurtling in at superluminal speed.
"Hyaaaah—!!!"
In the distant starry sky, a figure, equally young but full of power, looked so handsome against the backdrop of the stars.
His leg produced roaring flames from the high-speed friction. His kicking posture was almost identical to the universe's number one kick, the Leo Kick.
That's right... this was Zero. The Ultra Warrior who had just rushed from Planet K76 to provide support, and also the youngest and strongest Ultra Warrior of the Land of Light.
What he was using now was a carbon copy of the Leo Kick, the Zero Kick.
In his past training, after being kicked by the Leo Kick so many times, Zero had naturally mastered its essence.
Although he wasn't as strong as the original Leo, it wouldn't be wrong for him to call himself the second-best in the universe.
BOOM—!!!
Zero's kick struck the scythe of the Star-Shattering Swarm King directly, erupting with a massive sound.
And this fierce blow successfully interrupted the Swarm King's planet-destroying strike.
"Is that?"
On Earth, a glimmer of hope returned to the eyes of Mebius and the others.
That was definitely an Ultra Warrior. Had the warriors from the Land of Light finally arrived?
The smoke cleared, and an Ultra Warrior, interwoven with red, blue, and silver, with two Eye Sluggers on his head and a ferocious look in his eyes, was revealed.
"Heh, finally made it, huh?" Zero wiped his nose, feeling the power released from the Training Armor.
"The situation here is worse than I imagined," he remarked, his brows furrowed as he looked down at the earth below.
The number of insects exceeded his expectations. Even Zero felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of the swarm that blotted out the sun.
But he quickly composed himself and assumed a fighting stance. His target was the most powerful enemy before him: the Star-Shattering Swarm King: Skaracabaz!