Chapter Thirteen: Battle! Battle! (Third Update)

“Faced with the threat of monsters, people may panic and flee, but can I? I am Ultraman, after all. Wasn’t I created to protect? Will anyone understand my fear? My anxiety, my terror, when I stand before an enemy I cannot defeat… my weakness.” Tetsuya was not an Ultraman warrior from the Land of Light; he had not been raised from childhood with the honor of being an Ultraman instilled in him. In modern terms, he was merely a wild Ultraman… The training he received in the military, coupled with the sense of alienation upon arriving in this world, failed to imprint any sense of honor in his mind. He was just… an ordinary person, nothing special, though he possessed the powers of Ultraman and an apparently omnipotent system. Yet, in terms of mentality, he remained an ordinary man.

“Tetsuya…” Staring at the gigantic monster rampaging through the city, Sara Mizuhara felt worried for Tetsuya. Where was he now? The promise he made to protect—could he fulfill it?

“Hurry! Move!” The captain glanced back and saw Sara Mizuhara slowing down. He stopped abruptly and shouted at her in urgency.

Sara Mizuhara was about to break into a run, but her gaze flickered and she caught sight of a small, crying figure on the square nearby.

“What are you doing? Move, now!” The captain ran over, grabbing her by the sleeve to pull her away.

“Wait… Wait!” Sara Mizuhara pointed to the little girl on the square and cried, “There’s a child over there!”

“Damn it! Forget the girl! In a disaster like this, what can our tiny human strength accomplish?” The captain’s gaze swept over the square, then he gritted his teeth and shouted.

But Sara Mizuhara ignored his urgency, standing her ground and pointing to his uniform. “We’re soldiers! What is the duty of a soldier? Tell me now!”

The captain froze, his expression shifting to guilt. Instinctively, he brought his legs together, saluted, and yelled, “Protect the people!”

Sara Mizuhara shot him a cold glance, her voice frosty. “Good that you know.”

With that, she dashed toward the square. She saw the monster prowling nearby, but she was not afraid.

The captain watched her go, stamping his foot in frustration, and finally charged after her. Three times now, Sara Mizuhara had persuaded him, and the first two times had ended in bitter failure. This last time, he’d wanted to resist, but the sense of duty as a soldier compelled him to follow.

“Roar~!”

The monster raised its head, its huge, jagged maw spewing blue spheres of energy that struck the skyscrapers.

“Boom~”

Enormous energy blasts battered the buildings. Concrete and steel rained down, pounding the ground with thunderous crashes.

“It’s alright… It’s alright!” Sara Mizuhara held the little girl in her arms, comforting her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“Bang!”

A nearby skyscraper was pierced from above, its upper half tilting and beginning to collapse—falling directly toward Sara Mizuhara’s location.

“Damn it! Run!!” The captain, halfway there, looked up to see the scene and shouted desperately.

Sara Mizuhara instinctively looked up, seeing the upper part of the building magnified in her vision, plummeting straight toward her.

She did not run. The mass of falling structure was vast, covering nearly ten meters; there was no way she could escape from within its range. More crucially, fear gripped her, making her legs weak—she could not carry the girl and flee.

“Tetsuya… perhaps you truly cannot keep your promise…”

In the midst of his fierce internal struggle, Tetsuya’s heart suddenly sank. He looked upward, his eyes filled with a resolute determination.

He had made his decision.

Afraid?

Of course he was afraid. No matter how great his power, he was still just a normal person. Was he frightened by the ferocious monster? Absolutely!

But fear does not mean surrender! Even if his heart trembled, even if the odds were impossible, he had to fight!

For the sake of protection! For the sake of being Ultraman!

Fight!

A blue radiance began to emanate from Next’s body. Under its glow, red spread across his surface, expanding its reach. His form grew larger, his power steadily filling him, his skin becoming exquisitely refined.

“Adult form!”

Tetsuya felt the transformation, the light in his eyes growing sharper and more compelling.

“The One… I’m coming!”

“Boom!”

The building above tilted downward, casting a shadow over nearly ten meters. Sara Mizuhara dared not look, clutching the girl tightly, head bowed.

“Is this the end…”

The descending wind brushed over her, and then blue light enveloped her from above. When she looked up, she saw Next, his massive body shielding her, the entire upper structure crashing onto him.

She even saw Tetsuya flashing that roguish smile at her.

“Tetsuya…”

Next nodded at her.

“Are you both alright?” The captain rushed over, looked up at Next, and finally pulled them out from beneath his protection.

“Tetsuya! Hang in there!”

“Roar!”

From the wreckage, flames erupted violently, huge fire and debris engulfing Next.

The monster watched, the blue glow in its mouth fading.

Yet amid the blaze, Next slowly rose, his back covered with fragments of the building that fell away as he stood. He was clad in silver, the color flowing everywhere, his eyes shining brightly with a warrior’s light!

Standing there, he was Sara Mizuhara’s guardian—and the guardian of this world.

When adversaries meet, the hatred is intense. Seeing that his attack had caused Next no harm, the monster charged without hesitation, and Next rushed to meet him.

Two titans clashed in the city center!

“I’ll send you to hell!” Tetsuya nearly roared the words.

Next led with a heavy punch to the monster’s head, then locked its neck with his elbow, unleashing overwhelming force that drove the beast backward.

Fists, kicks, palm strikes, knee thrusts—releasing Tetsuya’s fury, Next’s combat was fluid and relentless, so dominant that the monster could barely raise its head.

The monster seized an opening, grabbing Next’s leg and flipping him to the ground.

Down, Next rose immediately to continue the fight!

“Roar!”

Blue energy spheres shot from the monster’s mouth, striking Next’s chest and blasting him far away, flattening a small hill in the process.

“Bang!”

Dust billowed, but when it cleared, Next stood once more.

“Roar!”

Another blue energy sphere spat forth; Next dodged nimbly, his gaze locked on the monster, his determination shining as if tangible.

“Roar!”

As the third blue sphere approached, Next leapt into the air!

“Fly…”

Tetsuya felt the wind’s breath, watching buildings flash past him. His mood changed profoundly.

Blue energy spheres came one after another, but he dodged them all with agility.

“Fly… I can fly! I can fly!!”

He soared upward, toward the endless white clouds, Next’s body racing freely through the sky!