Chapter 12: Apatai – Come to Deceive! Come to Ambush!
A thunderous roar erupted, as if exploding right by everyone’s ears. The sound enveloped the surroundings, allowing all present to hear it clearly.
“What is that!?” Director Teisei, sensing something unusual, looked up into the sky, then shouted over his shoulder, “Wameng, do you know what that is?”
“Huh, ah?” The question made Wameng’s heart skip a beat; he became tense at once. He had just left his seat, but in a flash—faster than the eye could follow—he sat right back down. “I—I’ll take a look...”
His voice trembled with panic, terrified his earlier movement had been noticed.
Teisei glanced at Wameng, puzzled by his behavior, and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“I—I...” Faced with Director Teisei’s gaze, cold sweat broke out on Wameng’s forehead as he rapidly searched his mind for an excuse. Suddenly, inspiration struck: “Ah, I must be too nervous—maybe a bit of airsickness!”
Since this was his first time participating in combat, Teisei didn’t blame Wameng for his nerves.
“There will be more battles like this in the future. You need to adapt quickly.”
After a quick word of advice, Teisei turned his attention back to the battlefield.
The strange phenomenon in the sky grew ever more bizarre, prompting him to issue a command at once: “Kaji, pull back for now and observe.”
Lightning One ceased its missile barrage and swiftly widened the gap between itself and the metallic entity.
Compared to the human fighter jet, the sudden changes overhead were far more captivating to Apatai, the metallic lifeform, who thus didn’t pursue.
At that moment, a shocked voice burst through the XIG communications channel—Atsuko’s voice: “How can this be? The weather is changing at an incredible rate!”
“What exactly is going on?” Director Teisei wanted more details, but in the next instant, the answer revealed itself.
Above the metallic lifeform’s head, vast clouds gathered, coiling into a massive, swirling vortex!
Ding—
A searing white light flared from the vortex’s heart!
Wameng’s face froze in astonishment as he sensed that familiar presence and parted his lips in disbelief: “That’s—!”
A curtain of white light descended!
Apatai, craning its neck to stare at the sky, was trying to make sense of the phenomenon. Unprepared for the falling light, the beam struck it full in the face!
“Grahhooo!!!”
With a scream, Apatai was sent hurtling backward, sparks bursting from its face!
The white curtain slowly dispersed, accompanied by a strange, mystical sound—
Aa—yi—ya—yi—ya~
A silver giant, clad head to toe in what looked like armor, stood revealed. Black streaks ran along its articulated frame, a crimson Y-shaped energy core adorned its chest, and a crystal gleamed from its forehead. Its stance was striking and unique.
“Now! Let us count your sins!”
Before Apatai could regain its footing, the transformed Joze leapt into the air, closing in with a classic Ultra flying kick!
“Ta!”
An Ultra battle cry, rough and brash, rang out!
Apatai, only just risen from the desert sands, suddenly saw a silver foot flying toward its face.
Bang!
The kick landed squarely, ringing Apatai’s head and sending its body tumbling through the desert.
“Don’t think you can escape!” Joze, seeing his advantage, pressed his attack!
All of this transpired in a mere blink. The XIG personnel only now snapped back to their senses.
Kaji, piloting Lightning One, gaped and mumbled, “A silver... giant.”
The scene was eerily familiar: once again, only the Lightning One remained on the field.
Aboard the Peace, Director Teisei reported back to base: “Commander, the situation seems similar to last time. However, this time, we clearly heard the giant speak.”
Joze knew nothing of cosmic languages, and Noah had never taught him the language of the Ultras, so he spoke in Earth’s tongue.
Wameng stared blankly at the silver giant, unable to put his shock into words: ‘Is this... another Ultraman?’
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he glanced uneasily at Director Teisei.
He remembered that during his own first transformation, he might have spoken as well.
Hopefully Kaji and the others hadn’t heard...
XIG Airborne Base.
The appearance of the silver giant drew Atsuko and Joki to the main screen, eager to see more clearly.
“Wow! It’s a new Ultraman!”
“He looks even cooler than Gaia!”
Unlike women’s natural curiosity, Staff Officer Chiba turned to Ishimuro beside him.
“Commander, does this mean there’s more than one Ultraman?”
“We can’t rule out the possibility.” Commander Ishimuro’s expression was grave as he watched the screen, where the silver giant continued to dominate: “But for now, it seems Ultraman is on our side.”
Still, it was strange—the new silver giant’s style was nothing like Gaia’s. Apart from the familiar Ultraman face, his body looked more like a suit of armor.
Of course, this had everything to do with Noah.
Joze’s light was still in its infancy, naturally leaning toward the Nexter form.
As for the Light of the Skies, it seemed to have simply endowed him with a giant body for battle.
There were, of course, flaws, but to Noah, they mattered little.
Back on the battlefield.
After a round of pummeling, Joze took advantage of Apatai’s stunned state to put some distance between them, preparing to unleash his finishing move.
But then he realized—he didn’t know any beam techniques!
In the battle against the progenitor Alien Beast, he’d used the Nexter body, with Noah handling the moves.
Now that it was up to him, Joze froze: ‘Wait a minute, both Gaia and Agul have their signature beam finishers—surely the Lord of the Skies should have one too!’
As he pondered, he frantically searched this body’s arsenal of moves.
But—nothing!
‘What the—! How can an Ultraman not have any beam attacks!?’
This absurd situation made Joze’s heart jolt. He couldn’t help but interrogate Noah in his mind: “What’s going on, Noah? This Ultraman doesn’t have any beams!”
That old mystic can’t be tricking me, can he?
“I forgot to tell you,” Noah replied calmly, explaining, “This Earth has only just conceived the Light of the Skies—it hasn’t had time to learn any beam techniques.”
“But I think that suits you perfectly.”
“Joze, another’s beams are always another’s. Only when you learn them yourself do they truly become yours.”
Noah’s words were earnest, as if urging Joze to understand that an Ultraman must rely on his own strength.
But Joze had no patience for such wisdom; right now he thought the old mystic was utterly unreliable!
Whizz!
A sharp sound cut through the air at his feet!
A gray metallic spear shot suddenly from the desert—Apatai had recovered and was counterattacking!
The gray spear hurtled straight for his Ultra head. Joze arched his back, dodging low, and snatched the weapon from the air!
A phrase flashed through his mind:
The enemy’s sword is your sword!
Gripping the metal spear, golden arcs of energy danced along his body.
With a motion that defied all reason, his waist twisted impossibly, and in a swift, whirling spin, he hurled the spear with lightning force!
Ripple-Spin Ultra Javelin!
A flash of golden light streaked out—Apatai’s chest was pierced straight through!
The massive damage from that blow finished it on the spot; even in death, it never imagined such an end.
Noah, who had watched it all, fell silent. His original intent had been for Joze and the Ultraman called Gaia to fight side by side and form a bond of friendship.
But to his surprise, left to his own devices, Joze managed to find a solution by himself.
Could it be... this child is a genius?