"Once we're back from this trip, we should be going to Natlan, the Nation of Pyro, right?"
Before heading off to another world, Lumine said it casually.
With blessings all over her now, getting the Pyro element wasn't that urgent anymore. They could go whenever.
"Sure. Natlan has some ties to the Ruler of Death," Koji said.
The Pyro Archon Mavuika could borrow the Ruler of Death's power to blast a hole in Teyvat's sky and glimpse the scenery beyond Teyvat.
That place was full of all kinds of dragons. And in the game, characters who had "Natlan household registration" were all pretty strong.
The six-star Pyro Archon Bennett was a Natlan native. Even though he lived in Mondstadt and was basically a Mondstadt college kid, his roots were in Natlan. If Bennett could reconnect with Natlan's ley lines, maybe his bad luck would finally disappear.
"Take me with you when the time comes. I'm really curious about Natlan," Yae Miko said.
She didn't know much about Natlan. It would be the perfect chance to broaden her horizons and gather inspiration. She also hadn't written a light novel in ages.
"As long as you talk it over with Kitsune Saiguu and the others," Koji said.
Snap!
Koji snapped his fingers. A spatial passage appeared, and the group filed in one after another.
…
[Ultraman World]
"Golden Pyramid. We picked the timing perfectly."
Koji and the others appeared on a suspension bridge. Looking at the glowing pyramid, Koji—who knew exactly what this was—and Lumine exchanged a smile.
Dagu hadn't been "cooked into soup" yet.
"What a powerful energy fluctuation…" Raiden Ei's eyes flashed with surprise.
That light was warm, like it could bring people hope.
Of course it was strong. In theory, Ultramen could blow up planets. If Tiga were in Teyvat, he absolutely had the power to fire a beam and blast Teyvat apart.
"Hey, who are you?"
At that moment, a young man in a white uniform walked over, looking at these strangely dressed people with confusion.
Aside from Koji's relatively modern outfit, Lumine and the others were dressed in styles you rarely saw.
"Hello. We're a Teyvat tour group. We're just traveling around and happened to visit here," Koji said with a smile.
The childhood idol—Madoka Daigo. A really approachable guy.
"Traveling?"
Daigo couldn't quite process it. This place was so remote, and people still came here for tourism?
"The pyramid?!"
When Daigo turned his head and saw the pyramid standing there, he couldn't help blurting out in shock.
This was the pyramid the time machine mentioned.
"You'd better leave quickly. Things might get dangerous soon."
After that kind warning, Daigo ran toward the pyramid. He could feel a wave coming from inside that was drawing him in.
So guided by instinct, he knew it was a place he had to go.
"This guy's kind of special. Going by typical novel settings, he's probably the protagonist, right?" Yae Miko said with interest.
And she dashed straight toward the pyramid. If you ran at it like that, you were obviously going to pick up your cheat power-up.
"Follow him."
With that, Koji and the others moved too. None of them were ordinary humans. They darted through the forest with quick, agile movements, light as shadows.
Inside the pyramid, three statues of Giants of Light stood tall.
"As expected of Tiga. Even as a statue, his looks are flawless," Lumine couldn't help sighing.
"By the way, Koji—what are the other two statues called?"
In the TV series, those two statues got smashed the moment they debuted—Golza and Melba wrecked them—just to make Tiga look better.
"Aurora Warrior Achilles. Power Warrior Hera. One is good at freezing beams and high-speed movement, and one specializes in raw strength," Koji said.
Standing beside Tiga meant they had real strength too. If their statues could be preserved, maybe they could eventually wait for matching human hosts.
"You know those two Giants?" Daigo walked over after hearing him, asking curiously.
"I do. The one in the middle is Ultraman Tiga—the strongest Giant from thirty million years ago. That statue is the combat body he left behind," Koji said in a strangely loaded tone.
Given Tiga's legendary reputation as a "corpse-dumping maniac," this statue was probably the third body he'd tossed away.
"Tiga… Ultraman…" Daigo murmured.
The name felt familiar. Somewhere deep inside, it gave him a sense of warmth and closeness.
Rumble… rumble…
The ground suddenly started shaking, and even the three statues trembled with it.
Koji and Lumine exchanged a look. They knew the monsters had arrived.
"Let's go."
Koji led everyone out. Daigo could get out on his own. Next came the part where Dagu got "cooked into soup."
They were just here to watch the excitement. Beginner-village mobs weren't that hard. And when Tiga first appeared in episode one, the body wasn't being controlled by Daigo yet.
…
"Gone?"
When Daigo snapped back to himself, he found Koji and the others had already left.
That only convinced him more: those people weren't normal. No wonder they knew so much.
Rumble… rumble…
The shaking intensified. Daigo didn't plan to stay inside. After one last look at Tiga's statue, he ran outside to regroup with his teammates.
ROAR—
Golza and Melba appeared. Two monsters, each dozens of meters tall, let out terrifying sound waves that shook the ears—like they could tear open the sky and split the earth.
"So these are the monsters of this world?" Raiden Ei said with interest.
Back during Teyvat's Archon War, there were plenty of demonic beasts and gods with bodies on that scale.
"Golza and Melba. And the one that just appeared is Ultraman Tiga," Koji nodded.
These two monsters were fusion materials for Five King. No matter what world Five King showed up in, he'd always get jumped by the Heisei three-man gang—even if it wasn't the true body.
…
"His beam attacks are obviously insanely strong, so why doesn't he use beams right from the start?" Yae Miko couldn't quite understand.
He had to punch and kick first, then finish with a beam. He even blew one monster up like he was firing artillery.
"…Maybe he's worried that if he misses, he'll waste a lot of energy. Then it'll be hard to deal with the monster afterward," Koji said.
In TV logic, it was because of runtime. If you solve everything with one beam, it doesn't feel satisfying.
Fight scenes add spectacle and fill the episode length.
In the newer Ultraman movies, it's different. Ultraman fights monsters with less brawling—he just raises a hand and fires the Specium Ray. Clean and decisive.
"I see. So the indicator on Tiga's chest is the time he can stay active, right?" Yae Miko accepted the explanation.
"About three minutes. If he goes past that, Tiga loses his ability to keep fighting."
Koji remembered a video: when an Ultraman's timer turns red, that's when the monster should start panicking. Either the Ultraman can't hold on first—or the monster gets blown up first.
Yae Miko and the others were surprised by that setting. Such overwhelming power—and yet such a harsh restriction.
(End of Chapter)
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