"That's Fuhuo City!" Ria said to Yu Zhou. "Look at the sky above Fuhuo City—what is that?"
"It's a monster, obviously," Yu Zhou replied calmly.
It seemed that Fuhuo City had once again fallen under a monster attack.
From its shape, the attacking monster appeared to be a bird-type kaiju.
Could it be Melba?
"Let's hurry and take a look," Yu Zhou said after a moment of thought. Now was the perfect opportunity.
Whenever a monster attacked humans, a Giant of Light would appear to defeat it.
If he could find that Giant of Light, then finding Ultraman Tiga himself wouldn't be far off.
"But there's still quite a distance down the mountain," Ria said, glancing toward the base of the slope. "Even if we hurry now, by the time we reach the city, it might already be gone!"
"Fuhuo City is too dangerous right now, Ria. You'd better stay here for the time being."
As Yu Zhou spoke, he retrieved a flight board from his dimensional ring and set it on the ground.
"You stay here and watch. If you see the monster disappear, that means it's safe—you can head down to Fuhuo City then."
"Ah San, what are you going to do?" Ria asked, confused, watching him pull out the strange metal board.
"I'll go ahead first," Yu Zhou said with a faint smile.
And with that, he stepped onto the flight board and sped down from the mountain toward Fuhuo City.
"Ah?"
Ria stood frozen, watching as Yu Zhou's figure disappeared into the night, not knowing what else to do.
"Unit One, attack head-on!"
"Unit Two, engage in circular laser fire!"
"Ground defence—open fire!"
The orders echoed through the city.
Fuhuo City was already in ruins.
But its defence force was still fighting bravely against the flying monster.
The city's advanced aircraft and combat ships were fully engaged in the defence.
Under the commander's orders, the pilots unleashed waves of missiles and energy beams at the monster.
Explosions lit the night sky.
Each time a missile struck, the monstrous bird flapped its vast wings, deflecting the projectiles and scattering them across the city in fiery bursts.
Flames engulfed Fuhuo City, black smoke billowing upward.
Unlike the lord of Akalu City, the lord of Fuhuo City was a strong, middle-aged man.
As the city fell into crisis, he stood on the high platform himself, gripping a light-imbued crossbow, and fired bolt after bolt at the monster above.
"It's Melba," Yu Zhou muttered as he soared closer on his flight board.
The Ancient Winged Monster Melba—
According to Yūrei's records, a creature said to be capable of "shattering the skies."
But to Yu Zhou, that title was nothing impressive.
In his eyes, Melba was nothing more than a noisy pest.
Still, while Yu Zhou might consider it trivial, to the ancient humans below, Melba was a nightmare.
Even with their technology—advanced aircraft and weapons—their attacks barely scratched it.
The only thing that seemed to have any effect was a series of light arrows streaking through the air.
Tracing them to their source, Yu Zhou spotted the city lord atop the platform, his crossbow glowing as he condensed light energy into every shot.
"Light Arrows powered by energy?" Yu Zhou murmured.
He paused, surprised. Was this some kind of psychic ability?
But after a brief observation, he dismissed that thought—
He could feel faint traces of Light energy in the arrows themselves.
Even though Yu Zhou could now only transform into his dark form, he still remembered the sensation of wielding Light power.
It was unmistakable.
"So, it's a power similar to the 'Degel' type," he concluded.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that the man shared characteristics with the special ancient humans who could control Light to fight—
the kind of people once called Degel in ancient times.
"To think that even in the Ultra-Ancient Era, such people existed," Yu Zhou muttered softly.
He continued to watch from above.
Melba, from time to time, retaliated with destructive blasts, but for the people of Fuhuo City, every wave of wind and flame was a catastrophe.
Their defences were collapsing.
If the Giant of Light didn't appear soon, they would all die beneath Melba's wings.
The battle raged on, and it was clear the city's defenders were at their limits.
Suddenly, Melba's eyes glowed—
Twin beams shot forth, striking an aircraft squarely and sending it crashing to the ground in a fiery explosion.
Then, with a single beat of its enormous wings, Melba conjured a gale that sent the remaining ships spiralling out of control.
"What?!"
The commander on the ground shouted, both shocked and desperate.
Their aerial units—the pride of their defence—had been completely overpowered.
Now, only the ground artillery remained.
"Fire! Fire everything we've got!" he roared.
Dozens of cannons thundered.
Shells and laser rounds shot upward toward Melba.
But the monster's speed and agility made it almost impossible to hit.
One by one, the shots missed, detonating within the city instead.
Buildings collapsed, and Fuhuo City's destruction worsened.
"This can't be happening!"
The commander's voice trembled. Was Fuhuo City truly doomed to fall today?
Melba's wings whipped up another violent storm, tearing the remaining turrets from the ground and hurling them aside.
"Is this… the end of Fuhuo City?"
The city lord's eyes burned with fury, yet his heart filled with grim resolve.
Even if death awaited him, he would fall defending his city.
He drew his bow once more and fired—
Light arrows streaked toward the monster.
His bravery caught Melba's attention.
The creature roared, turning its fury upon the platform.
"That man…" Yu Zhou thought. "Could he be the Giant of Light?"
If anyone could release light energy like that, the odds were high.
But as Melba dove toward him, the city lord merely gritted his teeth, continuing to fire arrows, showing no sign of transformation.
"…No way," Yu Zhou muttered, frowning slightly.
It seemed the man was not the Giant of Light after all.
Out of habit, Yu Zhou reached into his coat and pulled out the Dark Sparklence.
With a flash of violet-black lightning, he pressed the activation trigger.
Darkness converged around him—
Black tendrils of energy wrapped around his body, drawing every shadow nearby into the transformation light.
With a faint, chiming sound—
A towering dark giant appeared before everyone's eyes.