Chapter 146 Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru

Daigo rushed outside just in time to see the figure rocketing up into the night sky. He yanked out his Sparklence, transformed into Ultraman Tiga, shifted into Sky Type, and blasted off in hot pursuit.

“Who are you?” Daigo demanded, using his sheer speed advantage to cut Masaki off mid-air.

“Daigo Madoka, did you really think you were the only chosen one?”

Ultraman Lux hovered in the sky, leveling a deadpan stare at Tiga.

“How do you know who I am?” Daigo was instantly on edge.

“I saw the exact same nightmare you did, Daigo. The Earth swallowed by darkness, humanity wiped out, and Tiga’s power being nowhere near enough to stop the final threat,” Masaki stated coldly. “That’s exactly why that man chose me. He made me into a new Ultraman.”

That man? The gears in Daigo’s head started turning.

Is this new Ultraman working for those two mysterious guys? Is their master plan for beating the Great Old One just… manufacturing a whole army of Giants of Light?

“You know exactly who I’m talking about, Daigo,” Masaki sneered. “You’re way too weak, and you’re too damn comfortable with the status quo.”

“When I first realized the Earth was going to be destroyed, and that I actually had a shot at becoming light, I trained and studied like my life depended on it. All just so I could be worthy of this power.”

“That’s why that man chose me to wield the light. Just watch. I’m going to prove to everyone that he made the right call. The one to save the Earth is definitely going to be me.”

Daigo: “…”

Are people really fighting over a crappy job like saving the world these days?

“Alright, I’m done wasting breath on you. I’ve got to take this Kyrieloid back.”

“What are you guys going to do with it?” Daigo asked.

“The Kyrieloids declared war on humanity and have been pulling terrorist attacks left and right. Naturally, we’re returning the favor with war.”

With that, Masaki blew past Daigo and shot off toward Kumamoto.

Daigo watched him leave, pinning down his trajectory before heading back to the surface. He dropped his transformation and regrouped with Captain Iruma.

“Captain,” Daigo called out, jogging up to her.

“Where’s the new Ultraman?”

“I chased him for a bit, but I lost him.”

Iruma let out a heavy sigh. “Dealing with Ultraman Tiga and Godzilla was already giving me a massive headache. Now we’ve got Kyrieloids and another new Ultraman popping up. What the hell is happening to the world?”

“Daigo, do you think we’re heading toward some massive catastrophe?”

“No way,” Daigo assured her. “Don’t stress too much over it, Captain. Let’s get you back to base and get you patched up.”

Iruma nodded. “Alright.”

—

Kumamoto City.

The underground research lab at Cytech Corporation.

“You gonna talk?!”

“Are you gonna talk?!”

“…”

Big E was relentlessly throwing haymakers, beating the absolute stuffing out of the captive Kyrieloid.

Mmph…

The Kyrieloid let out muffled groans of agony, its mouth heavily gagged.

Vane strolled into the room, casually sipping from a can of Monster.

“How’s it going? Get anything out of him yet?”

“Not yet. This guy’s a tough nut to crack,” Big E said. “I’m working on it.”

Vane stared at the Kyrieloid with the massive gag stuffed in its mouth, then looked back at Big E.

“Are you just using this Kyrieloid as a punching bag to vent?”

Big E shook his head. “I am not.”

“Then why the hell did you gag him? He literally can’t talk!”

Vane’s face darkened like the bottom of a charred pot. Is this golden old man treating me like some drooling idiot like Patrick?

“Oh, was his mouth gagged?” Big E kept a completely straight face as he reached over and yanked the stuffing out of the alien’s mouth.

Vane: “…”

Horus really should’ve hit him with a few more heavy left hooks back in the day!!

“You damn—”

Before the Kyrieloid could even finish its curse, Vane pulled out a sword forged from toxic flora and quicksilver. He slashed the alien right across the chest, pulling an ear-piercing, agonizing shriek from its throat.

“Not bad. As expected of the Guilty Thorn—the torture effect is completely maxed out.”

Vane watched the screaming Kyrieloid, then looked at the blade in his hand, a nasty grin spreading across his face.

Upon finishing the quest to eliminate the four kaiju, Vane had scored another Lucky Block. Cracking it open rewarded him with the Guilty Thorn, a weapon straight out of the TragicMC 2 mod.

[Item: Guilty Thorn (95/100). Every attack triggers the ‘Torment’ trait, applying negative status effects to surrounding entities and plunging the target into sheer, unadulterated agony. Evaluation: “A wicked weapon. Use it to properly discipline your enemies.”]

“You…”

The Kyrieloid tried to spit out some more tough talk, but Vane just swung the Guilty Thorn again, drawing an even more bloodcurdling scream from the alien.

After a few more slashes, Vane got totally addicted. It didn’t matter what the guy said—Vane just kept swinging the sword.

Eventually, the Kyrieloid couldn’t take it anymore. It collapsed to its knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ll talk… I’ll tell you everything… just stop hitting me with that damn sword!”

“No, you don’t want to talk.”

Vane slashed him again. The Kyrieloid shrieked even louder.

If I’ve committed a sin, let Ultraman judge me! Don’t let this absolute psycho torture me!

Big E and Keigo Masaki stood off to the side, both completely speechless. Vane was clearly drunk on power. The prisoner was actively begging to spill the beans, and Vane still wasn’t letting him.

“Traveler, we have actual business to handle,” Big E said, stepping forward. “Just let him speak.”

“He’s right, boss. Let him talk. Cut him some slack,” Masaki chimed in.

“Fine,” Vane grumbled, looking thoroughly disappointed as he stepped back, leaving Big E and Masaki to handle the interrogation.

“What’s the real reason you’ve been hiding out on Earth?” Masaki asked.

“Foolish—” The Kyrieloid started, instinctively trying to insult the human in front of it. Then it caught sight of Vane flashing a psychotic grin in the background and violently flinched.

“We… we want to harvest human souls…”

The Kyrieloid spilled its guts about their grand plan. They resided in an alternate dimension and survived by spreading their religion across various worlds to harvest souls. They had kept their eyes on humanity since the dawn of civilization. They’d sent agents to lay low and spread their twisted faith, biding their time until the human population swelled large enough for a massive harvest.

Now that the Great Old One, Gatanothor, was on the verge of waking up, Kyrieloid upper management wanted to use the kaiju attacks to push their doomsday rhetoric and cash out. Tiga and Godzilla suddenly popping up completely derailed their business model, which was why they were so incredibly pissed off.

“What a bunch of scumbags, actually trying to farm human souls.” Big E scoffed. Listening to the confession, he quietly slapped a death sentence on the entire Kyrieloid race in his mind.

You’re already dead.

“These freaks sure dream big,” Vane muttered. “Anything else you wanna share with the class?”

Terrified to hold anything back, the Kyrieloid spilled every last detail it knew.

“The agents embedded on Earth are currently summoning the Angel’s Gate, which connects to our dimension. The plan is to crush Tiga and Godzilla for good and show the world who the real gods of Earth are.”

Vane nodded. “Then we’ll take this opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.”

Big E and Masaki nodded in agreement.