Chapter Two: Fierce Battle Against the Masters

Kane was momentarily stunned, but before he could react, the black and red silhouette of Zagi flashed before his eyes. The streamlined form, suffused with darkness, moved so swiftly that the assembled Ultraman warriors hadn’t even begun to respond. Kane himself was caught off guard, and then a disdainful voice rang out.

“Zagi Punch.”

An intense surge of dark gravitational energy exploded forth, and a fist imbued with endless weight struck Kane squarely in the abdomen.

Bang!

Like a can kicked into the air, Kane’s body was hurled backward with tremendous force, crashing through several crystalline buildings before finally coming to a halt.

“Uncle!”

Seven cried out in alarm. He brought his palms together above his head, and with a focused effort, controlled the Ultra Boomerang through his psychic powers, sending it spinning and slashing toward Zagi.

This was the signature move of the Seven Clan—the Ice Axe.

Controlled by Ultra psychic power, it could fly white-hot toward the enemy, severing their body, then return to Seven’s head. The Ice Axe was razor-sharp, capable of slicing even the largest monsters clean in two!

Yet Zagi did not even attempt to dodge. He merely extended his hand and, as the Ice Axe approached, gripped it tightly.

Seven tried to wrest control of the Ice Axe through his psychic power, but realized it was completely immobilized in Zagi’s grasp. Instantly sensing danger, Seven retreated at top speed.

Meanwhile, Zoffy called out loudly, “Everyone, break formation! Do not engage head-on! Scatter to the lower grounds, rescue our wounded brothers, and cover the retreat!”

Zoffy remained calm and collected. He had long been trained as a captain, possessing every quality required of a leader. From his observations, he knew that facing such a powerful foe, his side stood little chance—even the leader of the Space Defense Force, Kane, had been sent flying with a single punch.

Zagi inspected the Ice Axe, then flicked it lightly. The weapon unleashed even greater force, now appearing more like an impossibly sharp cosmic blade, capable of cutting through anything as it hurtled toward Seven.

Slice!

With a soft sound, the Ice Axe sheared through an Ultraman’s arm, severing it cleanly, and continued its relentless flight.

Bang!

Zagi appeared before Seven. Though they belonged to the same clan and wore similar armor, with features almost alike, Zagi possessed power far greater than Seven’s. He was a warrior adept at wielding ice and frost, able to generate blades of ice to slice his foes. His exceptional speed allowed him to create countless afterimages in high-speed combat, using the dust of ice.

Zagi grabbed Seven, pulling him behind with one hand, while his other hand, holding an ice blade, vibrated intensely, blocking and deflecting the Ice Axe’s strike.

“Zagi! Are you alright?” Seven asked anxiously.

Zagi shook his head and remained silent, his gaze fixed on the figure whose name resembled his own. He was deeply shocked: his opponent had thrown the Ice Axe effortlessly, yet Zagi had to use all his strength to resist it. Moreover...

Seven noticed the glowing energy points dispersing from Zagi’s palm and fell silent. Ultramen are beings of light; when injured, the most obvious sign is the scattering of the energy points that compose their bodies.

Powerful—unbelievably powerful!

That was the only thought in both Zagi and Seven’s minds.

“Let me try my hand at this!” Galareis roared, hurling the fireball he had been cultivating at Zagi. The fireball, laden with immense energy, stopped abruptly before Zagi, who blocked it easily with one hand.

“Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!”

The fireball was suddenly propelled backward, crashing among the gathered Ultraman warriors and scattering them in all directions.

Suspended in midair, the towering Golaian locked his gaze on Zagi, his expression serious. He was already twenty-five thousand years old, yet wore a beard that only Ultramen over forty thousand years would have, a result of his overflowing power of light. If one were to choose the strongest Ultraman warrior, Golaian would surely be it. While others were fearful of their own strength, he was always eager to “destroy the enemy.” Yet he could not control his immense power, and Freya had sealed his uncontrollable abilities by sacrificing half her life as a shackle.

“I need to break the seal!” Golaian said urgently to Freya beside him.

“No!” Freya shook her head firmly. “You can’t control your power. You’ll only make things worse!”

“But our Land of Light is facing disaster!” Golaian cried. “Every available power should be used!”

Meanwhile, the Ultraman warriors, focused on battle, were already flying downwards to aid their brothers struggling against the monsters.

“All must die!”

Zagi’s eyes gleamed blood-red. His figure moved so swiftly that only a streak of black and crimson light could be seen. Each time he passed an Ultraman warrior, he paused for barely a second, and the victim would plummet like a bird with broken wings.

Seven felt bitterness in his mouth, his limbs cold.

“My Land of Light… is doomed…”

“There’s still me!” Golaian, surging with abundant light energy, let out a furious roar. His eyes blazed with anger, and his whole body radiated a violent aura. Though his excessive power left him somewhat dazed, his warrior genes drove him instinctively toward Zagi.

Bang!

He launched a heavy punch at Zagi, the sound of an air burst echoing. Golaian was not skilled in beam techniques; his physique favored raw strength. He could throw foes many times his own size far away, or shatter their horned heads with a single punch.

Oh...

Zagi sensed Golaian’s approach from behind and, surprisingly interested, looked up at him.

But only for a brief moment.

Bang!

Zagi did not dodge. He caught Golaian’s fist with his palm, then slammed his shoulder backward, hitting Golaian with the force of a meteor. Golaian’s chest sank instantly.

Grabbing Golaian’s fist, Zagi hurled him into the air. While Golaian was still ascending, Zagi’s figure vanished, then appeared above him, stomping down hard on Golaian’s chest, sending him crashing to the ground like a meteor.

Boom!

The tremendous impact left a crater hundreds of meters wide, and Golaian lay in the pit, the colored timer on his chest flashing rapidly.

“Pathetic!”

Zagi raised his fist, ready to strike the fatal blow. At that moment, Kane’s gaze from the sky met his.

[Author’s Note: I hope everyone will collect and share this story, passing it on so more people can read. I remember watching Ultraman Tiga as a child—it was a formative shock to my childhood, and has always lingered in my heart. Today, on impulse, I began to write. Honestly, writing Ultraman fan fiction is quite challenging. I want to depict scenes of fantasy combat, but many descriptive words can’t be used, making it hard to match the style, so progress is slow. These words took me an entire afternoon to write. I hope you’ll bookmark or reward the story and encourage me.]

[Special Points Explained:]

1: According to the plot of Ultraman Noah’s prequel, Dream Battle (which I found via a search—the entire Ultraman series feels like a tangled mess), Zagi does invade M78. He may not have invaded the Land of Light itself, but for the sake of the story, I’ve altered this. I hope you understand; this won’t affect the overall Ultraman world view.

2: Since there’s no official, comprehensive energy level classification in the Ultraman series (or at least I don’t know of one), I’ve created my own, which will appear later in the story.

3: Regarding Zagi’s invasion of M78, I couldn’t find any information about the era or how many Ultraman warriors the Space Defense Force had. I can confirm that Seven and Zoffy were present, and at this time, the Father of Ultra was still the commander, so Zoffy hadn’t been officially promoted yet.

4: Seven and the Father of Ultra are indeed uncle and nephew, according to online encyclopedias.

5: As for Cizer, Golaian, Zagi, Doryu, Galareis, Freya—some are from Ultraman’s dark history, others from the comic "Ultraman STORY 0." My idea is to connect the entire Ultraman history through this novel, so I’ve included them deliberately.