"Wait! Legends say this land seals away hell itself. If you just barge in, who knows what terrible thing might be unleashed!"
Tsukasa Tamaki shouted as she chased after Kurosaki and his team, who had already rushed into the cavern.
But they ignored her completely. In her hurry, Tsukasa tripped on a rock and fell heavily to the ground.
"Tamaki!" Yuzhou and the others rushed to help her up.
"Are you alright?" Yuzhou asked, seeing her covered in dirt.
"I'm fine…" Tsukasa shook her head, brushing off the dust.
Before they could catch their breath, shouts of amazement echoed from inside.
"Look at that!"
When they reached the pyramid's deepest chamber, the beam of a flashlight revealed a colossal stone figure, half-buried but towering in presence.
It was the statue of Ultraman Tiga.
"An Ultraman!" Kurosaki's eyes gleamed with mania. "This is the discovery of the century!"
He immediately urged his cameraman to film, already calculating the profit this footage would bring him.
Tsukasa, however, was stunned into silence.
"I've seen this before…" she murmured, "Ancient texts speak of it. This statue is the Giant of Light—Tiga."
"Oh?" Yuzhou raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected her to know about Tiga. But what truly weighed on his mind was this: Why does Tiga exist in this parallel world?
In the old tales, Tiga was once a Dark Giant thirty million years ago, who turned to light through Yuzare's guidance. In the end, he left behind his body for battle and returned to his homeland—though where that homeland was, no one ever said.
But surely not this universe.
So this must be… only a shell, a vessel of battle.Or perhaps… an avatar?
Yuzhou shook off the thought. He would ask Tiga himself—if he ever met the true one.
Beside him, Daichi secretly pulled out the X-Device and whispered, "X, do you recognise him?"
"It is possible he was an Ultraman who visited Earth in the ancient age," X answered solemnly.
Yuzhou tilted his head, quietly listening. Even X doesn't know? That was telling in itself.
Meanwhile, Tsukasa stepped toward a stone tablet and began translating its strange inscriptions:"By the will of the Emerald Stone, the Light of the Sky and the Light of the Earth shall join together."
In front of the tablet sat a green, dust-covered orb. Everyone's attention shifted toward it.
"This must be the stone," Tsukasa said.
"I think it's pointing to our teammate Daichi," Yuzhou interjected with a grin.
"Eh? Me? Why me?" Daichi stammered.
"Because it says 'the Light of the Earth.' Sounds like you to me. You'll become light." Yuzhou flashed his teeth in a mischievous smile.
Daichi: "???"His heart skipped a beat—Did he just expose me?
Ignoring the banter, Tsukasa read on:"One day, when the Combined Light appears once more, darkness will return to darkness. Entrust this stone to the one who holds the Combined Light."
"The one who holds the Combined Light… who could that be?" Asuna murmured.
"My guess?" Yuzhou said, eyes twinkling. "The 'Light' means Ultraman. And in this world, that's Ultraman X."
He leaned closer to Daichi, lowering his voice. "And since the prophecy mentions the Earth's light… well, that would be you and X, fused together."
Daichi nearly choked. His forehead beaded with sweat. "Yuzhou-kun, enough with the nonsense…"
But inside, his heart pounded. He knows. He knows I'm X.Yet… who exactly is this man to know so much?
Kurosaki, uninterested in prophecies, strode up to the orb and smirked. "Who else could this chosen one be, if not me?"
He reached out to seize it—only to have Yuzhou block his path.
"You can't take that stone." Yuzhou's voice was like ice.
"And who are you to stop me?" Kurosaki snapped.
"I told you. I'm Yuzhou, from Huaxia. And I'll warn you once: that stone suppresses a primordial monster. Remove it, and the beast will awaken. You won't survive."
Kurosaki laughed scornfully. "So what? This land is company property. Everything unearthed here belongs to us."
He lunged again.
Yuzhou's hand flashed. A sharp strike to the side of Kurosaki's neck—
"Thud!"
Kurosaki collapsed, unconscious.
"Mr Kurosaki!" His team rushed forward, panicked—but not one dared raise a hand against Yuzhou.
"What a pity." Yuzhou flexed his hand, disappointed. "I was hoping to test my strength a little more."
He eyed the group. "Strange. Isn't he your leader? Why aren't you coming after me?"
"W-we wouldn't dare…" one stammered. "You're Huaxia. They say all Huaxia people know martial arts."
"…Really?" Yuzhou deadpanned.
"You just dropped Mr Kurosaki with a single strike…" the man said nervously.
Yuzhou sighed. Maybe he had gone too far. Still, at least the emerald stone remained untouched.
It was then that Daichi spoke up, staring straight at him. "Who are you, really?"
Yuzhou smiled faintly. "I already told you. I'm Yuzhou, from Huaxia."