Aeons, mysterious and supreme beings, are like celestial bodies with spirits. Each one presides over a different "Path," wielding the immense power to erase reality and create worlds.
Little is known about these enigmatic beings who wander the cosmic seas. Limited by their finite cognition, intelligent life can only vaguely perceive the Paths the Aeons tread, paths unseen by mortals, and by embracing certain philosophies, they can wield a fraction of their immeasurable might. Ultimately, in the myths passed down through word of mouth, the Aeons became the personifications of highly condensed philosophical concepts.
Embodiments of philosophical concepts, mysterious, unknown—these are the hallmarks of the Aeons.
As for the Aeons themselves, they are able to rewrite their Paths according to their own will.
Such was the case for the Swarm King at this moment. Because it was not in its home turf, its concept and power had been continuously suppressed.
But now, cloaked in the Gray Mist, it had broken free from its shackles, becoming an Aeon in the truest sense, one with the universe itself.
In other words, the current Swarm King was its complete form, a true Aeon. Although its intelligence hadn't improved much, its power... was on a completely different level than before!
---o---
Light Curtain Bullet Chat
"Why did this change happen? Just a moment ago, it wasn't its home field. After absorbing some Gray Mist, the Swarm King can now exert its home-field advantage in the Ultra Universe?"
In the My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU world, Yukino Yukinoshita frowned slightly, her eyes filled with confusion.
Just a moment ago, it was in a normal state, and now it had suddenly transformed like this. Could it be because of the Gray Mist? But what exactly is the Gray Mist for? Why would it help the Swarm King?
"Interesting. Helping an Aeon overcome the laws of survival in a different universe? This Gray Mist is truly not to be underestimated."
In the Honkai world, Otto stared at the previous light curtain images, a thoughtful expression on his face. Clearly, his curiosity about the Gray Mist was growing ever stronger.
But ultimately, things like this were similar to the Honkai in nature; they were not easily controlled. Unless it could help in reviving Kallen, Otto would not do anything too out of line.
General-in-chief Sugiyama: "I feel like... things are getting more and more complicated. Originally, we just had to deal with the Swarm King, but now..."
Not only had the Swarm King's power increased, but the Gray Mist had also begun to spread throughout the universe.
And of all times, this was when Ultraman Reiga had gone missing. It was likely that his disappearance was also connected to this mysterious fog.
Light Yagami: "To be able to restrain two great gods from two different universes simultaneously, the status of this fog must be at least on par with the Ultra Universe and the Honkai: Star Rail universe."
---o---
[On the light curtain, the change in the Swarm King put Ultraman Saga on high alert.]
An outburst in a desperate situation is often astonishing, especially from a powerhouse of the Swarm King's caliber.
"Don't give him a chance to breathe, take him out!"
With Asuka's voice, a blue figure streaked across the starry sky. Ultraman Saga clenched his fist, gathering the power of light in his hand as he struck at the Swarm King.
Mist-like particles of blue light scattered across the cosmos, beautiful and eye-catching like blooming violets.
However, the Swarm King's enhancement and recovery were completed in an instant. The instant movement of Ultraman Saga now had a visible trajectory in its eyes.
It could see it. It could see the trace of Saga's teleportation, and it knew where Saga would appear next second.
"How can this be? What happened... to the Swarm King?"
This shocking scene immediately caught Stelle's attention.
At the same time, Stelle, who was inside Ultraman Saga's body, failed to notice that when the Swarm King appeared in its most perfect form, the power of Preservation from the Amber King Klipoth, which lay dormant within her, began to stir.
Boom!!!
A massive explosion erupted from the Swarm King's carapace. The energy contained within was enough to easily destroy the surface of a planet.
But none of it mattered. For the Swarm King, Ultraman Saga's attacks, while not completely nullified, could no longer inflict any effective damage.
In the starry sky, several streaks of light appeared. In a fraction of a second, the Swarm King and Ultraman Saga had already exchanged tens of thousands of blows.
Their clash tore through the fabric of space. Even the vast sea of stars was engulfed by the energy storm, and countless planets perished as a result, turning to nothingness under the might of the energy beams.
In the confrontation, Tayzzyronth's carapace acted like a black hole, absorbing all the energy of the stars. The hundreds of millions of stars in the entire star region were all extinguished.
Then, a profound aura emanated from Tayzzyronth. A sense of vicissitude and oppressive might, as if from the dawn of the universe, radiated from the Swarm King's body.
Its form was not large, yet it possessed the power to swallow heaven and earth.
The Swarm King's body streaked through the void, arriving in front of Saga in an instant. In the void... a sickle flashed, aimed straight for Ultraman Saga's timer.
At the same time, a brilliant blue light bloomed from Ultraman Saga's arms. In an instant, it met the Swarm King's sharp blade, and a terrifying energy shot through the cosmos.
Even the people on Earth, countless tens of thousands of light-years away, witnessed this shocking scene.
The surviving civilizations in the universe knelt before this terrifying energy storm, praying for the protection of their gods.
And those powerful forces of darkness or other advanced cosmic beings instantly grew grim.
Terrifying... It was simply too powerful, too terrifying.
Both the Swarm King and Ultraman Saga were powerful to an absurd degree.
The gap between them and the Swarm King, between them and Ultraman Saga, felt like it was on another dimension entirely.
The commotion stirred up by the energy storm attracted the attention of the entire universe, while the battle between Ultraman Saga and the Swarm King continued.
Though it was unbelievable, right now... the legendary Ultra Warrior who symbolized miracles, Ultraman Saga, was at a disadvantage.
His spatial abilities were pushed to their absolute limit, used to evade all manner of attacks.
He had almost no opportunity to fight back. This was the true power of the Swarm King. Even for a legendary warrior like Saga, defeating it would be no easy task.
"Hah... hah..."
Time passed, second by second. Although Ultraman Saga still hadn't consumed any energy, the several human hosts within his body were already exhausted.
Stelle was a bit better off. After all, she wasn't human. A Stellaron spirit, not to mention her body contained a host of blessings and energies. It was nearly impossible to make her feel tired.
But Musashi and Asuka were different. As human hosts for Ultras, their bodies were completely outside the category of "human," but they weren't as exaggerated as Stelle's. They couldn't quite reach the level of fighting monsters with their bare fists.
So at this moment, Ultraman Saga was almost being piloted by Stelle alone.
"An Aeon... why is it so tough? I can't even dent it, and its abilities are so disgusting."
Controlling Ultraman Saga's body, Stelle could clearly feel the Swarm King's unreasonable power. Its life-level was too high; normal attacks were completely useless.
"Is there any way to weaken its concept?"
Stelle carefully searched through Ultraman Saga's skills. There were skills similar to concept-stripping, but in the current situation, it would be incredibly difficult to have them take effect on the Swarm King.
"I've got it."
Stelle's eyes lit up, as if she'd thought of something.
Ultraman Saga was a warrior formed by the fusion of Zero, Cosmos, and Dyna, with the help of the Aegis of Palagye bracelet.
So... theoretically, the light of Noa still existed within Ultraman Saga's body.
Since it was difficult to determine a winner against the Swarm King with Saga's current power, what if she added Noa to the mix?
Don't forget, Stelle was now Nexus. Her light, while not exactly the same as Noa's, was not far off.
"Well, there's no harm in trying."
Using Ultraman Noa's light to stimulate Saga's power... they were both legendary Ultra Warriors, after all. It shouldn't cause any kind of rejection, right?
Thinking of this, Stelle directly took out the Evol-Truster within Ultraman Saga's body. As a flash of light passed, a normal human-sized Nexus appeared inside Ultraman Saga.
"Zing!!"
As if to validate Stelle's idea, the moment Nexus appeared, another ray of light suddenly rose within Ultraman Saga's body.
Under these new circumstances, the seven-colored light around Ultraman Saga became even more brilliant, and the mixed beam of powerful light faintly revealed a trace of oppressive might.
"..." The Swarm King, who had been watching Saga intently, was stunned.
It remembered this energy. It was identical to the Noa that had appeared before.
To this day, the Swarm King had not forgotten that strike from Ultraman Noa. It had already become a psychological scar.
Although its centipede-like legs were trembling, the Swarm King could also sense that Ultraman Saga was ultimately not Noa. His light was not as pure as Noa's, and his power was not as astounding.
Just to be safe, the Swarm King's mouth opened. A celestial-level energy began to brew within, a light wave capable of destroying half the universe surged on its body.
Seeing this, Ultraman Saga used his ultimate beam, a technique he had never used before. He raised both his hands and gathered his energy.
A clash that would decide the fate of all life in the universe began. If Saga hadn't sealed the surrounding space beforehand, the clash of their energies would have affected at least half the cosmos.
"This is the final blow, Tayzzyronth!"
Inside Saga, Nexus, as embodied by Stelle, stared at Tayzzyronth's bewildered form, her hands posed to fire a beam.
Boom!!!
Two beams of light streaked across the universe and collided.
At that moment, the universe seemed to stop the flow of time. Everyone's gaze froze.
"It's over..."
With Stelle's voice, time seemed to resume its flow. Ultraman Saga's powerful beam directly enveloped the light released from the Swarm King's mouth, and then shot straight for its body.
Boom—
With the power of the beam, the Swarm King's body seemed to crack open. Its carapace melted into a liquid state under the scorching heat, and its entire body was engulfed by light.
Its bodily functions, under this one blow, came to a complete halt...
---o---
Did they win?
Did they really win?
Across the infinite multiverse, countless viewers felt as if they were there, their eyes fixed on the super-clear, brilliant image on the light curtain, unable to stop themselves from gulping.
They had thought that the Swarm King, after receiving the empowerment of the Gray Mist and restoring its authority to the same level as in the Honkai: Star Rail universe, would be incredibly difficult to deal with. But as it turned out, Ultraman Saga was still a cut above.
No... rather than saying it was Ultraman Saga, it would be better to say it was Stelle who was amazing. After all, towards the end, it was almost Stelle alone, relying on her willpower, who was controlling Saga. It was also she who activated that sliver of Noa's power within Saga's body.
---o---
Light Curtain Bullet Chat
"I Want to Drink Mei's Sister's Juice": "Is the Swarm King dead? For real? It's not going to play dead, is it?"
In the Far East Branch, Kiana, the future Herrscher of the End, stared nervously at the screen.
There wouldn't be another reversal, right? The Swarm King's carapace, which was so tough that not even a supernova could scratch it, had been destroyed. If it still didn't die after that, it would be a bit too much.
General of the Luofu, Jing Yuan: "It's a pity, but the Swarm King is not dead. Or rather... even Ultraman Saga doesn't have the ability to kill it. That last blow was certainly stunning, but it only defeated the Swarm King. Defeat and kill... are two different concepts."
Super Scientist Ah Guang: "The concept is undying, the Aeon is indestructible. Tsk... so hard to deal with. It's reached this point, and it's still not dead..."
Galaxy Baseballer: "It's fine. Even though we couldn't kill the Swarm King, we've at least restricted its movements."
Yukino Yukinoshita: "Mm, that last blow, even if it didn't completely kill the Swarm King, definitely wouldn't have left it in a good state."
---o---
[On the light curtain, as the beam of light ended, the Swarm King's ruined body appeared before the crowd once more.]
The Swarm King's carapace had been turned to nothingness by the power of the light.
Its body was scarred and battered from the beam. Seven-colored blood, emitting an alluring fragrance, flowed down its skin.
Yet even at this point, the Swarm King still did not show any extreme emotions. Instead, it stared silently at Saga before it, as if its body was completely unharmed.
Upon closer inspection, one would discover that its body was recovering at an extremely slow speed.
Not just its skin, but even its carapace was slowly regenerating. It was estimated that in a few days, the Swarm King would be able to return to its peak state.
Outrageous! Perverted!
But as long as the concept of Propagation, which symbolized fertility, did not disappear from the universe, then Tayzzyronth, as the Aeon of Propagation, would not die.
"I guessed this would happen, but seeing the Swarm King like this is still really frustrating."
Inside Ultraman Saga, Stelle sighed and said.
It seemed that Ultraman Saga's skill set had too many flashy concept-stripping abilities. But thankfully... the Amber King from another universe had already told Stelle the method to completely defeat the Swarm King...
---o---