"We do it like this, then this, then that, and then boom———"
Although her words were broken and clumsy, as if she had only just installed a language module, her thoughts and consciousness were still transmitting information through their mental connection. Even without speaking, communication was still possible.
Galacta figured that if they could not defeat Doomsday inside the body of the Giant of Light, then they should simply take the fight outside.
While there was still some energy remaining, they could split off a new energy body and fight the already-rampaging Doomsday until sunrise.
Hearing this solution, Joey, who temporarily could not even speak properly, could only let out a cold laugh.
"Is this something a normal person could come up with?"
He should have known.
Before meeting Joey, Galacta was basically just an energy parasite that survived purely through instinct.
In every cycle of the universe, she did nothing more than eat, sleep, and eat again. Expecting her to come up with some brilliant strategy was about as realistic as expecting Doomsday to suddenly repent.
Right now, she still believed that she was nothing more than a parasite living inside the stomach of the cosmic god, Galactus.
Forget her thought process, her entire biological process only had one direction. Expecting her to come up with a reliable plan was less realistic than expecting Doomsday to suddenly become reasonable.
Thinking of this, Joey was about to ask:
"So let me ask you—"
A plan this reckless and incomplete would surely be something the First Ultraman would reject.
[Let's do it.]
"Huh?"
[I understand your concerns, but you should feel the energy field we are currently in. There is no other option anymore.]
As the energy inside the body of the Light Giant continued to be drained, the silver-white space surrounding the three of them gradually shrank.
Continuing to fight a tug-of-war with Doomsday, who was constantly absorbing outside energy, would be nothing more than suicide.
After reconnecting with the First Ultraman, Joey quickly realized the same thing.
The plan for the two people and one insect was actually very simple.
They only needed to use Joey as the core, gather the energy that had just flowed back from inside Galactus, and break out of the Light Giant's body.
"Then let's do it."
Besides, fighting outside was not necessarily without a chance.
As Joey's thoughts accelerated, he realized that he was holding the trump card of Galacta, the biological daughter of Galactus.
So why should he be afraid?
After all, the invincible Galactus was still outside, wasn't he?
Boom!
Galactus, who had originally come here to enjoy a meal, had truly suffered terrible luck today.
Not only had he failed to eat anything, but he had also been beaten several times before becoming the one being eaten instead.
Thinking of this, Galactus' aura suddenly exploded.
The cosmic energy within his shattered body manifested into an endless repulsive force, pushing away the Doomsday Giant that was pressed against him and chewing on him like a starving beast.
Before even falling to the ground, Doomsday, completely unharmed by the energy impact, stabilized himself in midair.
His eyes released a high-energy heat vision capable of vaporizing everything, sweeping toward Galactus.
Galactus responded with his own cosmic energy beam.
The enormous streams of energy collided and merged together, creating a massive energy pulse that instantly destroyed all communication equipment belonging to the Spider Army.
"We have to retreat!"
"There's nothing left."
The Spider-Men continued desperately trying to do whatever they could, but now they had completely reached the point where there was nothing else they could contribute.
The surrounding buildings, which had once stood even taller than the two colossal beings fighting, had already been completely crushed by the aftershocks of the battle.
Most of Manhattan had been reduced to ruins.
Yet even that was still unable to calm the instinctive rage of Doomsday.
After their brief clash, the armor and flesh covering the rampaging giant evolved further, becoming increasingly similar to the layer of celestial armor covering Galactus.
The berserk giant once again dropped to all fours, circling around Galactus like a predator surrounding prey trapped in a desperate situation.
The opening of his mouth, already filled with energy-coated fangs, grew even more monstrous, ready at any moment to leap forward and bite off Galactus' head.
Having endured until this point, Galactus' mask was shattered, his chest armor cracked, and a massive hole had been torn through his abdomen.
Blood flowed endlessly.
He knew that this body of his had almost reached the end of its lifespan.
Continuing the battle was meaningless.
The benefits gained from consuming this planet could no longer compensate for the effort and damage he had suffered.
With that thought, Galactus waved his massive hand.
His broken body instantly disappeared, as if it had never existed.
And in the very next moment, a brand-new Galactus descended once again from beyond the universe.
The reality of the material universe had always been nothing more than clay in Galactus' hands, something he could shape however he wished.
His injuries and death were merely temporary setbacks.
He represented the laws of destruction and rebirth within this side of the multiverse.
He was the embodiment of those laws themselves.
Therefore, true death did not exist for him.
To truly kill Galactus, one would have to destroy the entire multiverse along with him.
As for why he returned, it was not because he cared about sunk costs.
Galactus was not unfamiliar with encountering difficult meals.
If every time he encountered resistance he became angry, returned to settle the score, and wasted precious feeding time, he would have starved to death long ago.
However...
This time, he truly had a reason he could not avoid continuing the battle.
That was—
"—————!"
Following a roar from the Light Giant that was neither human, god, nor beast, a silver-white energy mass mixed with red and blue colors surged out from his body.
The disappearance of Galactus caused the Doomsday-controlled giant to momentarily freeze in confusion.
Taking advantage of this opening, another force hidden deep within the giant's body gathered itself together and began separating outward.
The energy mass solidified in front of the rampaging giant.
Using itself as the core, it once again transformed into a Light Giant with red patterns across his body. The temporary energy core on his chest shone with a deep blue glow.
Ultraman had returned.
After a long time, Lipiah finally regained control of the body.
Under the blood-red glow of the setting sun, he threw the first punch of his reborn form toward the rampaging giant:
"Ha!"
The punch shattered the Doomsday Giant's newly evolved exoskeleton armor, which had been mimicking Galactus' armor.
The strike directly landed against the true body hidden beneath.
The absolutely powerful body of the Giant of Light, combined with the Kryptonian bio-field, caused two forces of the same origin to collide.
The resulting energy explosion was enough to shake heaven and earth.
The ground beneath both giants instantly cracked apart.
The Manhattan island that had already been flattened during the previous battle had now completely lost its foundation.
The land collapsed, seawater flooded in, and the entire area became a massive bay.
Fighting within the ocean, the First Ultraman bent his back and moved like a boxer, retreating sideways to dodge the Doomsday Giant's successive claw attacks.
The exoskeleton armor that Ultraman had shattered with his previous punch regenerated once again.
But this time, the newly grown armor had evolved into a dark-energy structure specifically designed to counter the Light Giant.
A creature capable of infinite evolution during battle could not be defeated quickly.
If the fight could not be ended immediately, the opponent would eventually drag him down through endless adaptation.
And now, there was even worse news waiting for the returning Ultraman.
Joey reminded him from within their shared consciousness:
"The sun is almost setting. Can you feel it?"
Under the blood-colored evening sky, the First Ultraman stood waist-deep in seawater.
He twisted his body and delivered a side kick, creating a wave dozens of meters high while forcing the rampaging giant back and gaining a brief moment to breathe.
He could feel it too.
His energy was declining.
His current reserves were not enough to maintain the Ultraman body for a long period of time.
The reason he could still fight evenly against his former body was entirely because he was relying on the Kryptonian biological force field strengthened by sunlight.
And the approaching sunset was undoubtedly the countdown clock for this battle.
Once the sun disappeared, Ultraman would no longer be able to maintain his form.
Without his restraint, Doomsday would only need a single thought to easily tear apart the entire planet.
The casualties caused by that would be unimaginable.
In desperation, Ultraman transferred control of the body back to Joey.
Then he focused completely on communicating with Galactus, who was watching the battle from the side.
He even called him by name:
[Galactus! Why are you only watching?]
Just as humans cannot imagine something they have never seen before, Ultraman, who was naturally compassionate toward life, found it difficult to understand how a higher-dimensional being surpassing the universe itself could possess not even the slightest trace of emotion.
Floating in the sky and watching the battle, Galactus remained silent.
His gaze stayed on Ultraman's temporary body for a long time.
Then, almost as if avoiding the sight, he shifted his eyes toward the depths of space.
[You use the worlds existing within these universes as nourishment. Don't you have any responsibility to protect them?]
"..."
Facing Ultraman's questioning, Galactus continued staring into the depths of the universe.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally looked back.
The sun began sinking below the distant horizon.
The sunlight grew dimmer.
Night approached.
The red patterns on Ultraman's body gradually faded.
The energy core on his chest, which had once shone with a deep blue light, now flickered weakly with a struggling red glow.
While fighting the Doomsday-controlled giant in close combat, Joey used a dirty knee strike to temporarily interrupt the opponent's endless sequence of clawing and biting attacks.
With the brief opening, he even had time to chat with the First Ultraman:
"I think he will definitely help."
In Joey's opinion, Mr Devourer was not stupid.
How could he not realize that something was missing from his stomach?
Even though their group had ruined his meal several times, smashed his dining table, and beaten his body to pieces...
But considering his daughter Galanata was involved, surely Galactus would lend them a hand?
Seeing a chance, Ultraman continued persuading him:
[I can see the heart hidden beneath your cold armor. Help me save this planet and the living beings of this universe!]
Watching this scene, Galactus placed a hand under his chin and thought for a moment.
Then, as if he had suddenly figured something out, he snapped his fingers.
From beneath the ocean on the other side, he pulled up a drowning dog.
It was Galactus' herald, Loki, who had been drinking seawater until he was nearly full after the violent changes in the landscape.
With that snap of Galactus' fingers, Loki instantly appeared in his palm as if he had teleported.
After retrieving his herald, Galactus nodded with satisfaction.
Then his body began fading away like a bubble bursting.
"Pop."
He disappeared without a trace.
Joey, who had caught this scene from the corner of his eye, was completely stunned.
"Huh...?"