Volume One, Chapter 24: Ampera and the Four Dark Heavenly Kings
Mother and son walked up to Taro. Taiga immediately called out, “Dad!”
“Hey, my good boy.” Taro bent down with a cheerful grin and scooped Taiga into his arms. Only then did he ask, “Shouldn’t you be in school at this hour? Why are you out and about?”
In the Land of Light, every young Ultra must pass tests from elementary through university before beginning physical training. And right now, it was class time.
Before Taiga could answer, Rifa stepped forward, ruffling his hair as she explained, “Taiga had a tantrum today and got into a fight.”
“What!” At the mention of his son fighting, Taro’s expression changed in an instant. He swung Taiga over his hip and delivered two sharp smacks.
Scowling, he raised his hand to deliver two more.
“You’ve got it all wrong!” Rifa hurriedly grabbed his arm and snatched the now-miserable Taiga away.
Taro rolled his eyes and snapped, “It’s all your fault for spoiling him! Otherwise, how would he cause trouble at school?”
“I didn’t cause any trouble!” Taiga finally couldn’t hold back and wailed, “It’s all… it’s all… waaaah…”
His protests quickly dissolved into sobs of injustice.
“Look what you’ve done to him!” Rifa shot Taro a glare, cradled Taiga, and walked away, comforting him as she went: “There, there, don’t cry. It’s just our bad luck to have such an unreasonable father.”
Taro: “…”
——
Monster Graveyard.
This was the resting place where the souls of banished cosmic monsters slumbered in eternity.
But today, that peace was mercilessly shattered.
Tregear emerged from a spatial rift, his entire form wreathed in dark blue flames, his true face obscured.
The moment he appeared, the entire graveyard seemed to shift, quivering with an ominous energy.
Tregear surveyed his surroundings, then slowly raised an arm and unleashed four beams of black light that sank into the earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled as four jets of magma erupted skyward.
At the same moment, among the countless monster spirits floating in the air, four were drawn as if by some summons and drifted into the molten rock.
Bang—
The lava burst apart, revealing a silver-white, fierce-looking alien being.
If anyone had seen him in that moment, they would surely have been terrified out of their wits and fallen to their knees in reverence, crying, “Lord Grudon!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The other jets of lava exploded in turn, and three more extraordinary aliens emerged.
The four stood together, a palpable and terrifying darkness surging behind them as if to pierce the heavens.
Though their faces were filled with confusion, before they could react, a suit of armor materialized before them.
The voice emanating from within made all four tremble and instinctively kneel.
“Your Majesty!”
Even the armor seemed bewildered, glancing around before fixing its gaze on the four before it: “You…”
He had barely spoken two words when he spun around and unleashed a torrent of fearsome darkness.
“Heh…” Under his mask, Tregear let out a cold chuckle, neither dodging nor flinching, letting the attack land.
Bang!
The dark energy collided, but like a twisted vortex, it was completely absorbed by Tregear without leaving a trace.
This was chaos’s mightiest and most fundamental power—Devour.
Seeing his attack so easily neutralized, even the one who had once ruled as the Dark Emperor could not hide the tremor in his eyes.
“Who are you?” he demanded in a low voice.
The Four Heavenly Kings also raised their heads in turn, wary of this mysterious figure.
“Don’t be nervous.” Tregear lifted both arms, clapped them together, then folded them across his chest and said calmly, “I’m here to save you.”
“Save us?” The five of them burst out laughing as if hearing a joke. “Hahaha, you must not know that we… What!”
Their laughter cut off abruptly. They had suddenly noticed their own forms—they were but souls!
Only now did their memories surge back. For a moment they stared blankly, then a surge of ferocious hostility erupted from them.
Grudon and Disterium immediately turned on Mephilas, roaring, “You traitor! You snake!”
They still remembered vividly the moment Mephilas had fled alone.
As the two rushed forward, two shadowy arms appeared without warning and gently pushed their chests.
The two were thrown aside as if struck by boulders.
The Alien Emperor spun around, pupils contracting.
Even he hadn’t sensed this mysterious figure’s movement!
When had the universe produced such a powerful being?
“Heheheh…” Tregear’s low laughter echoed as his gaze swept over them. “You’re all in the same boat now. If you fail to complete your task within the allotted time, you’ll be buried here in the Monster Graveyard once again.”
At these words, every face hardened.
“What task?” the Emperor asked, frowning.
He wasn’t foolish—he understood this mysterious being had temporarily awakened their souls for a purpose.
And that purpose was unlikely to be anything good.
As expected, Tregear replied coolly, “I want you to go to the Valley of Flames.”
“What!” At the mention of the Valley of Flames, the Emperor and the Four Heavenly Kings all recoiled in shock, bodies trembling violently.
The Valley of Flames was known throughout the universe.
But it was a taboo, a place never to be touched.
Because that was where the legendary King of Ultra personally sealed the Ultimate Battle Device.
Even the Emperor, who had ruled the dark universe for tens of thousands of years, had never dared to even dream of setting foot there.
For the King of Ultra was the only living Ultimate Lifeform in the universe.
An Ultimate Lifeform transcended even the Supreme Lifeforms—a being of “legendary” power.
In the entire universe, besides the known Noah and Reigaido, there was none other.
And the King of Ultra was the third Ultimate Lifeform of legend.
Gulp—
In the stillness, five swallowing sounds overlapped.
“That’s right.” Tregear smiled softly and continued, “Your task is to go to the Valley of Flames, unseal the Ultimate Battle Device, and revive Belial.”
“Belial!”
That name sent another shock through the Emperor and the Five Kings of Darkness.
Ultraman Belial was no stranger to them. They had crossed paths many times during the ancient Ultra Wars.
But that was the Belial of old!
The current Belial had been possessed by the Supreme Lifeform Reiblood, making him the mightiest Reionics, his strength nearing Universe Level Three.
The Alien Emperor himself was only Universe Level One.
“I refuse!” the Emperor declared without hesitation.
He was the dark universe’s great emperor, the lawgiver above all—he would never become someone’s pawn, reduced to a mere lackey!
The Four Heavenly Kings were sweating profusely, glancing nervously between their emperor and Tregear, torn with indecision.
This mysterious being had entered the Monster Graveyard and restored their souls—his power was surely at least universe-level, perhaps even rivaling the emperor’s.
They dared not take him lightly.
But compared to the emperor, their fear ran bone-deep.
Tregear wasn’t surprised by the emperor’s reaction.
After all, making a sovereign of tens of thousands of years bow to another was harder than killing him.
Yet Tregear remained unconcerned, saying unhurriedly, “If you succeed, I can bring you all back to life.”
“Resurrection!”
The Four Heavenly Kings snapped their heads up. Even the Alien Emperor’s eyes twitched.
They were already dead—returning to life was all but impossible.
Yet this mysterious being claimed he could resurrect them?
“Why should we believe you?” the Emperor demanded.
To resurrect a soul to flesh required an immense amount of energy.
Even with his Universe Level One power, it was nearly impossible.
Wait—
A sudden thought flickered in the Emperor’s eyes, something deeply hidden.
Under the stunned gazes of the Four Kings, he stepped before Tregear and bowed. “I agree. But you must find a way to let us leave the Monster Graveyard.”
Seeing his capitulation, Tregear immediately smiled. “That’s simple.”
He raised his hand, fingers splayed toward the five of them, and fired five beams of chaotic power into their bodies.