---o---
Zero's arrival was undoubtedly a reassurance. Although the strength of Zero in his base form was far inferior to that of Joneus, the sheer number of power-ups he had was simply staggering.
Therefore, the trust the infinite dimensional cosmos placed in Zero was definitely far greater than their trust in Joneus!
To this day, Zero had already faced countless life-and-death crises, but he had always managed to overcome them with his powerful spirit and will, continuously unlocking new forms.
Just counting his Ultimate Ultra forms, Zero already had more than a few. Even without Stelle's assistance from within his body, he could achieve at least two Ultimate Ultra forms.
[Light Curtain Comments]
[Yukino Yukinoshita: "Zero is still as reliable as ever. He dealt with the Earth situation so well. I wonder how the Ultra Brothers and GUYS are doing, especially GUYS. Those higher-ups... probably won't be giving them a warm welcome."]
In the Service Club, Yukino Yukinoshita sipped her black tea, frowning as she spoke.
Although the mastermind was Phantylia, the human leadership was at least half to blame, if not twenty percent. Otherwise, the bond between the Ultra Warriors and humanity couldn't have been severed so quickly.
When it came to the incompetence and persecution of Ultramen by the leaders of the defense teams in the Ultra series, they had never once disappointed. It was an old tradition.
[Detective Conan: "The Ultra Brothers will be fine. Without Phantylia, the human leaders won't do anything to them. And they most likely won't stay on Earth but will return to the Land of Light for the decisive battle with the Swarm King. But as for GUYS..."]
The thought of the GUYS leadership directly branding the members of Phoenix Nest as human traitors gave Conan a headache.
To put it in terms everyone could understand, those leaders were beyond saving. Not long after the Ultramen left, they would absolutely make a move against Phoenix Nest.
[Shinigami Aizen: "Fratricide among their own kind... the species known as humanity has never once disappointed..."]
[The Uchiha Dancer: "It is precisely because of this that the actions of the Ultra Warriors are so naive. If not for the overwhelming disparity in power, I fear the Land of Light would have been conquered by humanity long before it was consumed by darkness."]
Within the light curtain video, many viewers from across the infinite dimensional cosmos made no effort to hide their contempt for humanity.
Even though some of these viewers were human themselves, they still cursed the human race as a whole.
[Doraemon: "What are you all talking about, belittling humanity as if it's worthless? Every group has its good and bad sides. Perhaps the GUYS leadership is just as you say, but many of the front-line soldiers and the common people—haven't they always trusted Mebius!"]
[You Protected Something: "Exactly! There is darkness within humanity, but at the same time... there is also light. It is precisely because of this shining light that humanity can overcome countless obstacles and develop to this day!!"]
[Pink Fairy Miss: "That's right! No matter when or where, the flower of humanity will always shine brightly. Despair, desolation, all obstacles, including the Honkai, including darkness, will be utterly defeated by this shining light! It is for this reason that the Ultramen... and the Flame-Chasers, have continued to fight to this day, willing to sacrifice themselves to achieve final victory!"]
Elysia's words appeared in the video's comments, instantly silencing the many viewers across the infinite dimensional cosmos who were deriding humanity.
It wasn't that they were moved by Elysia's words, but because Elysia herself was the very first "protagonist" to appear in the video, and her story had indeed brought hope to human civilization.
As the first protagonist, the light curtain's favoritism towards her was obvious. So... no one was going to argue with Elysia to the bitter end over some meaningless debate...
---o---
[In the video, with Cosmos's healing light, Joneus's life force recovered quickly. In less than three minutes, he had already returned to a near-peak state.]
"Zero, that thing on you, that's the Aegis of Palagye, isn't it?"
After mostly recovering, Joneus pointed to the Aegis of Palagye on Zero's body and said.
As an artifact bestowed by Ultraman Noa, an Ultra Warrior possessing the Aegis of Palagye could, like Noa himself, appear freely in any corner of the universe and even cross over into other parallel universes!
It was for this reason that Zero was tasked by Father of Ultra to act as a firefighter, dashing freely across the battlefield.
"Yeah, that's right. Joneus... Captain Sakomizu asked us to assist you. This Swarm King is the Swarm King's final trump card. As long as it dies, the Swarm King will have no choice but to show itself."
Zero did his classic nose-wipe gesture and said to Joneus.
At this point, Zero still didn't know that the Swarm King had received the Swarm King's blessing, had already split into two completely identical individuals, and its strength had greatly increased.
But even if he knew, with Zero's personality, he would definitely take care of both of them before the Swarm King could split again.
And clearly, Joneus thought the same way: "Zero, there's no time to waste. Let me hitch a ride with you."
Having almost fully recovered thanks to Cosmos's healing light and his own recovery abilities, Joneus spoke to Zero as if he hadn't experienced a moment of fatigue. "The Swarm Kings' location isn't far from here. They... no, they won't be leaving this area anytime soon."
"They?" Dyna asked, puzzled by the change in Joneus's wording. "Did something happen?"
Joneus explained the reason and continued, "Although I don't understand why the Swarm King would undergo such a change after receiving the Swarm King's power, one thing is certain... the current Swarm Kings are very dangerous. We can't be sure if they can split again. We must take out both Swarm Kings in the shortest time possible, completely!"
Hearing Joneus's words, the three Ultras nodded one after another. With their strength, plus Joneus, accomplishing this wouldn't be simple. Not to mention, they had another trump card currently inside Zero's body.
Nexus, as manifested by Stelle, was also an Ultimate Ultra-level warrior. Defeating an ordinary Swarm King shouldn't be too difficult...
In the starry sky, just as Joneus had said, the two Swarm Kings had not left the area. Instead, they were building nests on a planet that had already fallen to the Ultramen.
Although most of the inhabitants of this small star system had been evacuated by the Galaxy Rescue Force's spaceships before the war began, there were still a few who were unwilling to abandon their homeland and remained.
For them, the defeat of the Ultra Warriors was like their gods losing to a demon.
If nothing unexpected happened, the two Swarm Kings would need less than ten minutes to turn a star system roughly the size of the solar system into a breeding ground for the Swarm!
However... they wouldn't get that chance. Because no matter how powerful the Swarm Kings were, they couldn't possibly survive an encounter with these particular Ultra Warriors, especially since one of them was the cheating Zero and the other was Nexus.
"There are still two of them? Good, that makes things easy. Let's go!"
With the instantaneous teleportation of the Aegis of Palagye, Joneus and the rest of Zero's group saw the two Swarm Kings currently wreaking havoc.
Without hesitation, without waiting for the Swarm Kings to continue their destruction, the group launched their attack first!
However... aside from Joneus, the other Ultra Warriors, including Zero, didn't have the ability to giantize. This meant they had to use their roughly fifty-meter-tall bodies to stop thousand-meter-tall Swarm Kings.
It wasn't impossible, but from a purely physical perspective, it looked like ants trying to shake a human. The visual impact for the audience outside the light curtain was all the more shocking.
---o---
Many people across the infinite dimensional cosmos saw this scene and sighed with emotion.
On one hand, they were shocked by the astounding power of the Swarm Kings. On the other hand, they were filled with admiration for the Ultras' indomitable spirit.
Zero and Joneus were one thing, but Cosmos and Dyna were, in a sense, no match for the Swarm Kings at all. Going up against them was practically a suicide mission.
Although the light curtain had explained that they hadn't used their full power up until now, the scene of them being instantly killed by Dark Zero was just too impactful.
[Yukino Yukinoshita: "How should I put this... Dyna and Cosmos are clearly very strong, but they always give me a very cheap impression. Is it because they haven't used any particularly powerful ultimate forms up to this point, and they're always the ones getting blown up..."]
[Universal Loiterer Dyna: "Hey, what do you mean cheap? I'm trying very hard too, it's just that the light curtain hasn't given me enough screen time! A mere Swarm King? The moment I step up, I'll make sure it never returns!"]
Somewhere in the universe, the traveling Dyna's face was covered in black lines after seeing Yukino's comment.
To be honest, Ultraman Dyna was already very strong, at least stronger than the average Ultra Brother. While he didn't have many forms, they were at least sufficient. The only one to blame was his opponents for being too strong.
Asuka Shin chewed on his fingernails, his resentment for the Swarm King in the video palpable. He was now a little curious, no... very curious, about what that place called the Honkai: Star Rail universe was like, and why it could produce such an absurd existence.
[Slacker King Cosmos: "Although I often slack off... those few battles in the video were definitely my all-out efforts. Sigh... it seems I still have to continue getting stronger. If a disaster of this level really occurs in the universe, being stronger myself might at least save more lives."]
Somewhere on Earth, Musashi sighed helplessly. He had already decided that if any special situation arose, he would go call Justice and head to the universe where the Land of Light was located together.
If any problem arose, the power of Legend would definitely be able to handle it!
---o---
[In the video, Joneus stood tall in the cosmic void, like a god of war.]
Beside him were Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna. They all focused their gazes on one of the Swarm Kings.
Evidently, they had already discussed their battle strategy before arriving. Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna would focus their fire on one Swarm King, while Joneus would handle the other.
"Haaa—!"
A powerful roar echoed through the cosmos. Before the Swarm King could even react, Joneus's hand-chops were already striking at the tentacles on its head.
Shoot the horse before shooting the rider; hit the monster's horns first, especially these prominent ones that are easy to break! This was the experience Joneus had accumulated over tens of thousands of years!
An emerald-green light gathered in his hands, quickly imbuing them like an enchantment.
And every one of Joneus's attacks would produce a diffusing effect of emerald light. It was for this reason that the Swarm King's powerful defense was useless before Joneus, leaving it to be passively beaten.
On the other side, Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna flew around the Swarm King, relying on their miniature bodies.
With a new form, one naturally had to use it flexibly. Without relying on Stelle's power, Zero instantly entered his Shining form. His entire body shimmered with alternating gold and silver colors, and the crystal-like timer on his chest shone like the morning star in the deep space, releasing a powerful aura.
At the same time, Cosmos wasn't slacking off in the slightest. He immediately went into his Future Form. Although Dyna didn't have a change in form, the beam skills from his hands were fired at the Swarm King's body as if they were free.
The Swarm King's pained tentacles flew about in the starry sky. Every time they touched an asteroid, even with a glancing blow, it would be instantly shattered into pieces.
ROAR! ROAR!! ROAR!!!
Dyna and Cosmos held nothing back, unleashing their ultimate attacks one after another!
The Solgent Ray and Crossover Formation, beams fired at their maximum output, were the upper limit of the power they could release!
The two beams crossed in mid-air and gradually fused, their power increasing several tens of times over!
The Swarm King's massive body simply couldn't dodge the super-luminal combined beam and took the hit directly with its physical body!
The beam rampaged through the Swarm King's body, nearly causing it to collapse.
Seeing this, Shining Zero once again manifested the power of time. He extended his right hand and reversed the time on the beam's trajectory.
The combined beam, which had already disappeared, actually reappeared under the power of time, and its quantity even multiplied.
Dozens of beams fused again, stacking one upon another like building blocks. The radius of the beam column was already several hundred meters, a terror that was beyond comparison to an ordinary combined beam.
"BOOM—!!!"
After the beam had been amplified hundreds of times, its power was terrifying beyond compare, directly and completely grinding the Swarm King's body into dust!
The ensuing battle goes without saying. Joneus was already on even footing with the Swarm King. With the addition of Shining Zero, Dyna, and Cosmos, the remaining Swarm King was quickly reduced to ashes under the righteous group assault of the four Ultra Warriors.
[With this, the special individual bred by the Swarm King, the strongest of the Swarm Kings, had finally fallen!]
---o---