The battlefield fell silent.
Lothar remained standing in the center of the ruined street.
His body radiated an overwhelming amount of Voltra.
Lightning crackled around him.
His glowing eyes stared blankly ahead.
"Lothar!"
Light slowly stood.
"What is this power?!"
There was no answer.
Lothar slowly raised his hand once again.
Another sphere of Voltra began gathering above his palm.
This time...
It wasn't aimed at an enemy.
It was aimed directly at Light.
Light froze.
"...Lothar?"
Hikari's eyes widened.
"No!"
She immediately grabbed Light and pulled him aside.
The blast barely missed them.
BOOM!!
A nearby building disappeared beneath the explosion.
Dust filled the air.
Hikari stared at Lothar in disbelief.
"...He's attacking us."
"What happened to him?"
"...Did he lose control?"
Lothar slowly turned toward them.
His expression remained completely empty.
Without a word...
He lifted his hand once again.
Another blast began forming.
Light looked down at his trembling hands.
"...I can't fight."
"My Voltra..."
"...it's empty."
Hikari wasn't in much better condition.
The battle against the Kaiju had exhausted almost everything she had.
She looked at the growing sphere of energy.
"If that attack hits us..."
"...we're dead."
She made her decision.
Without hesitation...
She stepped in front of Light.
Light's eyes widened.
"Hikari!"
She never looked back.
"If someone has to die..."
"...it won't be you."
The sphere reached its limit.
Lothar lowered his hand.
The blast shot forward.
Hikari closed her eyes.
Then—
SHING!!
A brilliant slash split the beam in half.
The attack exploded harmlessly into the sky.
Hikari slowly opened her eyes.
Standing before them...
Sword in hand...
...was King Jugram.
Behind him stood General Zuko.
The King's expression remained calm.
Hikari's voice trembled.
"Your Majesty!"
"We have to retreat!"
"His power is beyond anything we've seen!"
Jugram didn't answer.
Instead...
He calmly gathered Voltra into his palm.
Lothar prepared another blast.
Before he could release it—
Jugram disappeared.
He reappeared directly in front of Lothar.
His glowing palm pressed firmly against Lothar's chest.
For a single moment...
Nothing happened.
Then...
The overwhelming Voltra surrounding Lothar collapsed inward.
The lightning vanished.
The aura disappeared.
His glowing eyes returned to normal.
Lothar's body went limp.
He collapsed unconscious into Jugram's arms.
The battlefield finally became quiet once more.
---
Far away...
Inside Veylor's laboratory...
Kael burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"So that's it?"
"Your masterpiece got completely destroyed."
Veylor ignored the comment.
His attention remained fixed on the monitor.
"You wanted to know..."
"...why I was interested in Lothar."
Kael looked toward him.
"...Yeah."
Veylor adjusted his glasses.
"Now you know."
Kael frowned.
"...You expected that transformation?"
"I knew it existed."
"I simply wasn't certain whether Lothar could awaken it."
Kael crossed his arms.
"...What exactly was that?"
Veylor slowly answered.
"The greatest mystery I've ever researched."
"Lothar possesses..."
"...the largest Voltra reserve ever recorded."
"It exceeds every Hybrid I've been able to study."
Kael stared silently.
"But..."
"He's not a Dreakor."
"So why does he possess power like that?"
Veylor looked back toward the monitor.
"...That..."
"...is the question I still cannot answer."
---
Several hours later...
Inside the Royal Medical Wing...
The atmosphere was calm.
Lothar lay unconscious on one of the beds, his body wrapped in fresh bandages.
Outside his room...
King Jugram stood beside General Zuko.
Light and Hikari waited nearby.
The silence lingered until Light finally spoke.
"...Your Majesty."
"What was that power?"
Jugram looked through the glass window toward the sleeping Lothar.
Then he answered.
"It is a transformation possessed by certain Hybrids."
"It awakens through years of training..."
"...and powerful emotions."
"Only a handful of people across the Five Kingdoms have ever achieved it."
Light listened carefully.
Jugram continued.
"It is known as..."
"...Ultimate Voltra."
"The warriors who awaken this power stand above ordinary Hybrids."
"They possess strength worthy of becoming kings."
Light slowly lowered his head.
His thoughts returned to the battle.
The Kaiju...
Hikari...
Lothar...
When they needed him most...
He had been powerless.
He quietly clenched his fists.
"...If I remain this weak..."
"...I'll never become king."
Nearby...
Zuko remained silent.
But deep inside...
His thoughts were different.
His Majesty isn't telling the whole truth.
Yes...
Ultimate Voltra exists.
But Lothar's transformation...
...was something else entirely.
I've seen Ultimate Voltra before.
None of them possessed power on this level.
Not even close.
Hikari also remained quiet.
Yet another question occupied her mind.
How...
...did His Majesty stop Lothar so easily?
That technique...
It wasn't ordinary Voltra.
It felt...
...like he sealed Lothar's power.
Before she could ask...
Light quietly turned away.
"I need more training."
Without waiting for a reply...
He walked down the hallway.
Hikari watched him leave.
She could understand what he was feeling.
For the first time...
Light had witnessed someone his own age reach a level completely beyond him.
---
Meanwhile...
Far beneath the city...
Inside Veylor's laboratory...
Kael leaned against the wall.
"So..."
"What's next?"
"Your Kaiju failed."
"And Lothar is far stronger than either of us expected."
"You still plan on capturing him?"
Veylor calmly shook his head.
"No."
"We leave Lothar alone."
"...For now."
Kael frowned.
"So our target is still Hikari?"
"Correct."
Kael sighed.
"Easy for you to say."
"I'm an ordinary human."
"I don't have Voltra."
"How exactly do you expect me to fight a Dreakor?"
Veylor smiled faintly.
"I never said you would fight her..."
"...as an ordinary human."
He walked toward another section of the laboratory.
Several large metal containers rose from the floor.
One by one...
They opened.
Inside rested black combat suits.
Beside them...
Strange weapons crafted from Kaiju remains.
Blue Voltra flowed through each of them.
Kael stared in silence.
"...What are these?"
"My newest invention."
Veylor replied.
"I've spent years studying Kaiju biology."
"Using their remains..."
"I developed equipment capable of allowing ordinary humans to challenge Hybrids."
Kael slowly approached one of the suits.
"...Interesting."
---
Back at the Royal Medical Wing...
The doors slowly opened.
Jugram, Zuko and Hikari entered Lothar's room.
Lothar remained unconscious.
His breathing was weak.
His skin had become pale from exhausting nearly all of his Voltra.
Hikari looked toward Jugram.
"His injuries are worse than I expected."
Jugram nodded.
"Ultimate Voltra places an unimaginable burden on the body."
"He pushed himself far beyond his limits."
He turned toward Hikari.
"Use your healing abilities."
Hikari nodded.
She gently placed both hands over Lothar's chest.
A warm golden light spread throughout the room.
Her healing Voltra slowly repaired the damage inside his body.
Minute after minute...
His breathing became steadier.
The color gradually returned to his face.
Finally...
Lothar's eyes opened.
"...Where..."
"...am I?"
He slowly looked around the room.
Then toward Jugram.
"...What happened?"
"...The Kaiju..."
"...Did we stop it?"
Hikari frowned slightly.
He doesn't remember...
Jugram placed a reassuring hand on Lothar's shoulder.
"You don't need to worry."
"The Kaiju has been defeated."
Lothar let out a quiet breath of relief before closing his eyes once more.
In the corner of the room...
Zuko silently watched the King.
His expression grew thoughtful.
That isn't the complete truth...
The Kaiju wasn't defeated by us.
It was defeated...
...by Lothar himself.