The rocket launcher was aimed squarely at one of Gijera's vine-like tentacles. A member of the Terra Star Defence Corps had his finger ready on the trigger.
But suddenly, a fierce white beam of light shot down from the sky, striking the vines that had bound Ultraman Tiga. With a sharp crackling sound, the tentacles snapped apart one after another.
The Terra soldier froze. He lifted his head to trace the light's origin—and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wha… what the—there's another Tiga?!"
Soaring through the air was a second Ultraman Tiga. He looked exactly the same as the Tiga who had just been trapped by Gijera!
"Are you kidding me???" the young soldier muttered, question marks practically floating above his head.
Two Ultraman Tigas? How could that be possible?
"Report! Something big just happened outside!"
Another Defence Corps member rushed toward the underground passage, but before he could enter, Eri and the others had already emerged from below, rising to the surface.
"What's going on?" Eri demanded as she stepped down from the transport.
"Ma'am… look at the sky."
The soldier pointed upward, voice trembling.
"Hm?" Eri followed his gaze.
"WHAT in the world…"
What she saw left her stunned: Gijera, who had always seemed to her just another plant-type kaiju, had now grown into a towering, sky-piercing tree-monster.
"This… this is impossible!" Eri turned sharply toward the soldier.
"That's not the only strange thing. Look again."
As he spoke, two streaks of silver, red, and purple light zipped past the massive tree, with countless vine tentacles chasing behind them.
Eri's jaw dropped. She had seen them clearly this time—two Ultraman Tigas fighting together against Gijera.
"Two… Tigas?!" she gasped.
The soldier shook his head helplessly. "Don't ask me. I've got no idea how."
"Could our arrival have caused some kind of temporal distortion?"
Eri's eyes narrowed. She turned and scanned the crowd until she spotted Yu Zhou standing beside Charija. Then she looked back to the two Tigas battling in the air… then at Yu Zhou again… then at the Tigas…
She repeated the motion half a dozen times before her mind nearly short-circuited.
If two Tigas existed, then perhaps one was the Tiga native to this timeline, while the other was Yu Zhou transformed. But Yu Zhou was standing right there, clearly not transformed.
"Unless… he really isn't Tiga?"
For the first time, Eri began to doubt her own assumption. If Yu Zhou wasn't Tiga, then perhaps the other Tiga had to be someone from among their group.
She quickly considered the possibilities. Everyone present had been accounted for—except those not currently here.
"Terra Star Defence Corps, assemble!"
Eri barked the order, determined to confirm. If someone was missing, that person might be the second Tiga.
The soldiers lined up promptly, each answering roll call. Eri scrutinized their faces one by one.
Charija leaned closer to Yu Zhou, whispering, "What's she doing?"
"No idea." Yu Zhou shrugged. Eri had been giving him strange looks earlier, staring again and again.
When the roll call ended, Eri froze. Everyone was present. Not a single member missing.
"How… how is this possible?"
She scratched her head, reviewing the sequence of events, piecing everything together in her mind. And then—an outrageous thought struck her.
"Could it be… Golza is Tiga?!"
The idea shocked even her. But when she thought about it: from the future, only Golza had escaped Charija's control. And right after Golza vanished… the second Tiga appeared.
Golza… could Golza transform into light?
"When did the second Tiga appear?" Eri pressed the soldier from earlier.
"Just a moment ago," he replied nervously.
"Just now… right after Golza fled…" Eri's brows knit tightly.
Her conclusion seemed unavoidable. "Golza must be Tiga!"
"You okay?" Yu Zhou asked, stepping closer. Since emerging above ground, Eri had been muttering to herself like someone half-delirious.
"Tell me something," Eri whispered mysteriously, pulling him aside. "Do you think… monsters can become beings of light?"
"…What???" Yu Zhou stared at her, dumbfounded.
"I mean it. Couldn't a monster—say, Golza—turn into light?" she repeated, louder this time.
Yu Zhou blinked. "Did you… not sleep last night?"
"I slept just fine!" Eri retorted indignantly.
"Then why are you asking something like that?"
"I'm serious," she insisted. "There are two Tigas in the sky! That can only mean one is from this timeline, and the other from the future. If no one from our group transformed… then it must be Golza!"
Yu Zhou nearly burst out laughing but clamped a hand over his mouth. Golza, Tiga? Eri's imagination was… impressive.
"Don't dismiss it!" Eri said heatedly. "The timing lines up perfectly!"
Yu Zhou coughed twice to hide his grin. "You know what? You may be onto something."
"Exactly!" Eri beamed, delighted that someone finally understood her logic.
Back at Charija's side, Yu Zhou sighed.
"What did she say to you?" Charija asked curiously.
"Charija… do you think monsters can become beings of light?" Yu Zhou replied with a straight face.
"…What?" Charija blinked at him, then gave him the kind of look reserved for lunatics. "Are you brain-damaged?"
"Not me—Eri said that." Yu Zhou pointed toward her.
"Then she's the one who's brain-damaged. Monsters can't become light."
Yu Zhou paused. "Actually… some can."
He remembered the Ultraman Tiga series—like the bird monster Shilada, who ultimately turned into light and flew into the cosmos like a phoenix.
Charija, however, just shook his head, exasperated.
Yu Zhou didn't argue further. He recalled ancient records: when the Plasma Spark Tower ignited on the Land of Light, it not only evolved its people into Ultramen but also spread radiation across the universe. Many ordinary animals and plants mutated into kaiju under its influence.
In other words, kaiju too were products of light. Monsters could indeed be said to "come from light."
And perhaps, just perhaps… some of them could return to it.
Meanwhile, Eri was still trying to convince herself. "Maybe it's just a duplication technique. Tiga is a Giant of Light. Splitting into two bodies wouldn't be strange."
It was a comforting explanation, at least.
On the battlefield, the two Tigas landed side by side, standing tall before Gijera, and raised their arms in identical battle stances.
The clash was far from over.
(Chapter End)