Chapter 167 Wrong Script?!! (Bonus)

After undoing his transformation, Vane returned to the Emperor’s side. Gamu Takayama and Hiroya Fujimiya also reverted to their human forms.

“I didn’t expect you to be human too,” Hiroya Fujimiya said, looking at Vane and the Emperor. “And you have a partner with you. Is he a kaiju as well?”

Vane shook his head. “Nope. He’s an Ultraman, just like you guys.”

“Then why didn’t he jump in and help?!” Gamu Takayama asked, baffled.

“Because that monster was weak as hell, and I just wanted to take my new form out for a test drive.”

Quietly, both Gamu Takayama and Hiroya Fujimiya felt their pride shatter into a million pieces.

That monster had beaten the two of them so badly they could barely stand, and now this guy was calling it pathetic—nothing more than a glorified punching bag for a test run!!

Just then, a man walked out from the ruins.

“Now that’s a surprise, defeating the Angel of Radical Destruction Zog so easily. But do you really think it’s over just like that??”

“The true Radical Destruction Bringer hasn’t been completely wiped out yet. It’ll be back.”

Gamu Takayama and Hiroya Fujimiya immediately put their guards up, glaring warily at the newcomer.

Vane sized up the mysterious man who had popped out of nowhere, his brow furrowing slightly.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re Jugglus Juggler, the swordsman who wanders across different timelines and dimensions.”

“Looks like you know your stuff. Yeah, I’m Juggler. Watch out for the Radical Destruction Bringer—it’s going to come back.”

Having said his piece, Juggler turned to leave, but Vane’s next words stopped him dead in his tracks like a magic spell.

“Hold on. Do you want to bring Micott back to life? Want to make up for the regrets eating away at you?”

Juggler whipped his head back around, staring daggers at Vane. “What are you getting at??”

Vane pulled out an invitation to the Desire Grand Prix and flicked it toward Juggler.

“As long as you join the Desire Grand Prix and win the championship, you can fix everything.”

Juggler looked down at the ornate invitation in his hand. “Who the hell are you??”

“Just a passing traveler looking for the right people to join the Desire Grand Prix.”

“Once the tournament starts, that invitation will teleport you right there. Win the whole thing, and any wish you make will be granted.”

“And why should I believe you?” Juggler scoffed coldly. “Besides, I moved on from Micott’s death a long time ago.”

“You’re always free to tear it up,” Vane said, spreading his hands. “Participation in the Desire Grand Prix is completely voluntary. Plenty of people get invited, but there can only be one champion.”

“Sounds like a scam to me.”

With a cold sneer, Juggler turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness. Yet he never tossed the invitation aside, let alone destroyed it.

“A grown man acting like such a tsundere!!” Gamu Takayama couldn’t help but mutter from the side.

“Alright, don’t sweat that little detour. Let’s get back to business.”

Watching Juggler leave, Vane pulled the Dimensional Pickaxe from his inventory to go hunt down the next Ultraman.

After hopping through several peaceful universes in a row, Vane led the Emperor, Gamu Takayama, and Hiroya Fujimiya into a chaotic spacetime.

The Earth in this universe was completely devoid of life—a barren wasteland littered with jagged rocks and the rotting carcasses of giant monsters. The sky above was crisscrossed with glowing purple rifts, and every so often, kaiju from different dimensions would tumble out of them and immediately start tearing into each other.

The moment Vane and his group arrived, they spotted two monsters locked in a brawl, their heavy footsteps making the ground rumble beneath them. One of them was the crayfish-like monster everyone knew—Alien Baltan. This species had also mastered gigantification technology and was scattered across countless universes, practically serving as a rite of passage for every up-and-coming Ultraman. The other monster looked like a Western wyvern, sporting a pair of wings for flight and the ability to breathe fire.

The two monsters fought viciously until Alien Baltan finally came out on top. Once the wyvern’s corpse hit the dirt, it dissolved into countless streams of light that poured straight into the Baltan’s body. Right before their eyes, the Baltan sprouted a pair of powerful wings and gained the ability to breathe fire.

However, the newly evolved Baltan didn’t even get to enjoy its victory for a few minutes before another monster burst out from underground, beat it down, and stole both its wings and its fire breath.

“The monsters here can evolve by defeating their opponents!!”

The Emperor spotted the catch at a single glance.

“If that’s how it works, won’t this place eventually birth something unimaginably powerful?” Gamu Takayama frowned. With this kind of battle-royale survival of the fittest, it was only a matter of time before an absolute nightmare of a kaiju evolved out of the pile.

“Then we just have to destroy this place,” Hiroya Fujimiya said, pulling out his transformation device.

Right then, an Ultraman dropped down from the sky and launched an attack on the monster that had just stolen the wings and fire breath. His combat skills were top-notch; in just a few brutal moves, he knocked the beast flat on its back and finished it off with an energy beam.

“Belial?”

“What’s a guy like him doing here??”

Vane instantly recognized the Ultraman who had just trashed the monster.

During the final showdown inside the dimensional rift, the original Belial had been defeated by Ultraman Geed—his physical body utterly destroyed and his soul sealed away inside the rift. Under normal circumstances, there was no way Belial could ever come back to life.

However, while scheming against the Land of Light, the Absolutian powerhouse Tartarus had reached into a past timeline and pulled out a younger version of Belial—from before he was ever possessed by Alien Reiblood. Tartarus brought him into the present and infused him with Absolutian particles to boost his strength, all to use him as a weapon against the Ultras of the Land of Light. Later on, after Tartarus failed, this young Belial broke away from the Absolutians and set off on his own again in search of greater power. Vane hadn’t expected to bump into such a notorious Ultraman out here.

“This guy packs a serious punch too. Let’s recruit him while we’re at it.”

“Sic ’em, Big E. Go beat him up.”

Vane turned to look at the Emperor.

“Didn’t you just say you wanted to recruit him?” The Emperor looked baffled. “Why do I have to beat him up first?”

“He’s not like the other Ultras. Unless you beat some sense into him first, there’s no way he’ll listen.”

“Fair enough.”

Hearing Vane’s explanation, the Emperor pulled out his transformation device and transformed into Ultraman Atum. The moment Belial saw him, he dropped into a fighting stance, and the two immediately clashed. With his overwhelming strength and speed, the Emperor made short work of Belial, beating him to his knees and dragging him right over to Vane’s feet.

“Belial, do you crave supreme power? Do you want to rule the entire universe??”

“All you have to do is win the Desire Grand Prix, and you’ll get the power to crush the Land of Light—and even defeat Ultraman King.”

Staring at the invitation Vane was holding out to him, Belial looked completely lost.

Did somebody hand you the wrong script??

Aren’t you supposed to flex your dominance and demand I become your subordinate?

Then I swear I’d rather die than submit, and you try to win me over with smooth talk—back and forth three or four times, until I’m finally won over by your sheer charisma and swear to follow you through thick and thin!

I already mentally prepared myself for the whole routine, and instead you’re asking me to sign up for some goddamn Desire Grand Prix??