Deep beneath the abandoned factory...
Inside Veylor's laboratory...
The scientist and Kael stood before a massive monitor.
Unlike an ordinary screen, this one displayed the battlefield through the Kaiju's own eyes.
Every movement...
Every sound...
Everything it witnessed...
Was transmitted directly to the laboratory.
Veylor watched silently.
Kael folded his arms.
"So that's your experiment."
Veylor nodded.
"Let's see whether it's worthy of being called a success."
---
Outside the royal palace...
The humanoid Kaiju stood motionless.
Its glowing eyes scanned the three warriors before it.
Light slowly drew his sword.
"...Did it..."
"...just speak?"
Hikari kept both of her blades ready.
"...Yes."
"And I don't like this."
"This isn't a normal Kaiju."
Behind them, inside the palace...
King Jugram watched from one of the balconies.
General Zuko stepped beside him.
"Your Majesty."
"We should evacuate everyone immediately."
Jugram nodded.
"Do it."
"Call the rescue teams."
"You'll accompany me."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Within moments, guards began escorting civilians away from the palace.
---
The Kaiju's attention never left Hikari.
"Dreakor..."
"Hikari."
"I have no interest in the others."
"My objective..."
"...is you."
Light stepped forward.
"What are you talking about?"
The Kaiju ignored him.
"The explosion was merely bait."
"I knew you'd come outside."
"If you surrender peacefully..."
"No more people need to die."
"But if you refuse..."
"...I'll take you by force."
Light tightened his grip around Dark Shield.
"Like hell we'll let you."
The Kaiju slowly looked toward him.
"...Light."
"I've seen your picture."
"But your name wasn't on the list."
"You are..."
"...irrelevant."
Light's eyes widened.
"You bastard..."
Before he could attack...
Lothar stepped in front of him.
"We don't care who you are."
"You've attacked the kingdom."
"That alone is enough reason to stop you."
"The King ordered us to minimize destruction."
"So surrender."
"Or we'll bring you down."
The Kaiju remained silent.
After several seconds...
It spoke.
"...Negotiations are over."
Suddenly—
It vanished.
Hikari's eyes widened.
"Above—!"
Before anyone else could react...
The Kaiju appeared directly in front of Lothar.
Its hand slammed across his face with terrifying force.
BOOM!!
Lothar was launched across the street, crashing through a stone wall.
"Lothar!"
Hikari immediately rushed forward.
Both swords flashed toward the Kaiju.
Just before her attack landed...
The Kaiju grabbed Light by the shoulder and pulled him into its path.
Hikari instantly stopped.
Her blades hovered only inches away from Light.
The Kaiju smirked.
"So..."
"You are the fastest among the three."
"You reacted immediately."
Light struggled inside its grip.
"Let me go!"
He drove his elbow backward.
The Kaiju effortlessly shifted its body aside.
The attack missed.
"Predictable."
A brutal punch struck Light in the stomach.
The force sent him flying across the street.
Without wasting another second...
Hikari attacked again.
Her twin swords moved like silver lightning.
The Kaiju's right arm suddenly changed shape.
Bones twisted.
Muscles expanded.
Its forearm transformed into a long black blade.
CLANG!
The blade blocked both swords.
The impact echoed across the street.
"So this..."
"...is the power of a Dreakor."
Before the Kaiju could counterattack...
A powerful fist crashed into its chest.
BOOM!!
Lothar had returned.
His fist glowed with Voltra.
The impact hurled the Kaiju several meters backward.
Dust covered the battlefield.
The monster slowly stood once again.
It looked at the three warriors.
Then quietly admitted...
"I am stronger than each of you individually."
"...But together..."
"...you are troublesome."
The Kaiju remained perfectly still.
Its glowing eyes moved from Light...
...to Hikari...
...then to Lothar.
It silently analyzed each of them.
Finally, it muttered to itself,
"Separating them..."
"...will increase my chances."
Its gaze shifted beyond the battlefield.
A group of frightened civilians stood trapped near the burning buildings, too terrified to move.
The Kaiju slowly raised its hand.
A sphere of Voltra gathered in its palm, growing brighter by the second.
Hikari's eyes widened.
"The civilians!"
Without hesitation, she sprinted toward them.
She planted herself between the Kaiju and the people behind her, raising both swords in a defensive stance.
"Run!"
The frightened citizens immediately began fleeing.
Just as the beam was about to fire...
...the Kaiju smiled.
The energy vanished.
"What—?"
Before Hikari could finish speaking...
The Kaiju disappeared.
A gust of wind swept across the battlefield.
Lothar turned—
Too late.
SLASH!!
The Kaiju's blade-like arm tore across his chest.
Blood splashed onto the ground.
Lothar staggered backward before collapsing onto one knee.
"Ghh...!"
"Hikari..."
Light's eyes widened.
"Lothar!!"
Rage consumed him.
He gripped Dark Shield with both hands and charged forward.
"You'll pay for that!"
The Kaiju calmly watched him approach.
Dark Shield swung with incredible force.
SHINK!
The Kaiju's arm fell to the ground.
Light landed several steps behind him.
He lowered into a defensive stance, breathing heavily.
The severed arm lay motionless.
For a moment...
Neither side moved.
Then...
The Kaiju chuckled.
"...Satisfied?"
Light frowned.
"What?"
"I allowed that attack."
"You were never fast enough to surprise me."
The severed arm suddenly twitched.
Light's eyes widened.
The flesh expanded.
Bones reformed.
Muscles twisted together.
Within seconds...
A completely new arm had grown.
"...It regenerated..."
Light whispered.
The Kaiju flexed its fingers as though nothing had happened.
Hikari's expression hardened.
"If cutting it apart doesn't work..."
"...then I'll destroy all of it."
She vanished.
The next instant...
She appeared behind the Kaiju.
Her twin swords flashed again and again.
One strike.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
The battlefield disappeared beneath a storm of silver light.
The Kaiju's body was sliced into countless pieces.
Arms.
Legs.
Torso.
Everything scattered across the street.
Silence.
The citizens stared in disbelief.
"...Did we win?"
Someone whispered.
The pieces suddenly began moving.
Every fragment crawled across the ground.
Slowly...
They reunited.
Within moments...
The Kaiju stood whole once again.
Directly behind Hikari.
"Hikari!"
Light shouted.
She turned—
BOOM!!
A devastating punch struck her side.
She crashed through the wall of a nearby building.
Dust exploded into the air.
Light roared.
"You monster!"
Ignoring everything else...
He charged once more.
His sword slashed repeatedly.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every strike missed.
The Kaiju effortlessly stepped around each attack.
Then...
A powerful kick struck Light square in the chest.
The impact launched him across the street.
Dark Shield slipped from his grasp before he caught it again while sliding across the ground.
He struggled to breathe.
Only one warrior remained standing.
Lothar.
Barely.
The Kaiju slowly approached him.
Lothar forced himself to rise despite the blood pouring from the wound across his chest.
He clenched his fists.
"I'm..."
"...not done."
The Kaiju looked at him without emotion.
"...Lothar."
"Your name..."
"...is also on the list."
Before Lothar could react...
The Kaiju grabbed him by the collar and lifted him effortlessly into the air.
Lothar struggled, but his injuries had drained too much of his strength.
Light looked up in horror.
"Lothar!"
Hikari pushed herself out from the rubble.
"...No..."
The Kaiju glanced toward the distant streets.
More soldiers were approaching.
Additional members of the Kaiju Combat Team would arrive soon.
"...Time is limited."
It looked back at Hikari.
"I'll return for you."
Then its grip tightened around Lothar.
"For now..."
"...he will suffice."
Light forced himself to stand.
"Put him down!"
Hikari raised one of her swords.
"You aren't taking him anywhere!"
The Kaiju simply looked at them.
"...Try and stop me."
With Lothar still in its grasp...
The creature prepared to retreat.
The battle...
...was far from over.