"Lord Yuzhou, you don't know what has happened…"
From the moment Himala heard Yuzhou's question, he immediately realized that Yuzhou had only just returned.
He then proceeded to recount everything that had occurred recently, explaining it step by step.
Not long ago, a vast surge of darkness had suddenly erupted from a sea region near R'lyeh, swallowing the world whole.
This darkness was far more violent than the one unleashed by Gatanothor. Its spread was terrifyingly fast—within less than an hour, the entire Earth had fallen.
"Lord Yuzhou, as the darkness spread, its source also revealed itself."
As Himala spoke, he waved his hand, and the image of a monstrous entity materialized in midair.
"This is the source of the darkness. He calls himself the Dark King—Cthulhu."
"He demands that the entire world worship him as the one and only god, so that he may harvest the power of human faith."
Once Himala finished explaining everything, Yuzhou fully understood the situation.
Cthulhu's seal had been broken.
And while Yuzhou was away, Cthulhu had taken over Earth in the New Domain World.
Back when Gatanothor appeared, according to Yuzare, the alignment of the stars had undergone a strange shift.
Yuzhou now believed that Cthulhu's seal had most likely been broken at that time—but Cthulhu had remained hidden until now.
Waiting patiently.
Waiting for Yuzhou to leave this world.
And only then did he strike.
"Then where are Daigo and Masaki?" Yuzhou asked, frowning.
If Cthulhu had appeared, there was no way Daigo and Masaki would have stood by and done nothing.
Yet neither of them was present in the Crystal Palace.
"You mean Ultraman Cain and the other Tiga?" Himala replied.
"They…"
With a wave of his hand, another image appeared before Yuzhou.
Beneath Cthulhu's massive form, deep in the ocean, two stone statues lay motionless, devoid of all light.
"They… have already turned to stone."
Himala let out a quiet sigh.
"So that's how it is."
Yuzhou was not surprised.
Cthulhu was simply too powerful. Daigo and Masaki were no match for him.
But they would never retreat.
Which meant that their defeat could only end one way.
"Wait—that's not right," Yuzhou suddenly said. "I remember Daigo unlocked a special ability. That… talk-no-jutsu into Glitter thing."
By all logic, if Glitter Tiga had been activated, he should at least have been able to fight Cthulhu head-on.
"Did that Tiga ever enter a glowing form? The kind where his whole body shines?" Yuzhou asked.
"Glitter?" Himala shook his head. "No. That Tiga never entered such a form."
"I see."
Yuzhou nodded. The situation was now clear.
Suddenly, on the screen Himala had created, a blood-red eye appeared.
Himala jumped in shock.
"A mere human dares to spy on me?!"
Cthulhu's hoarse voice echoed through the palace, causing everyone inside to tremble.
"Heh. Cthulhu, take a good look at who I am."
Yuzhou was completely unfazed. He even stepped forward deliberately so Cthulhu could see him more clearly.
"What?!" Cthulhu was startled. He examined Yuzhou carefully. "You… who are you?"
Yuzhou: "..."
"Forget it. Just wait for me to come find you."
He waved his hand and gestured for Himala to cut the connection.
After all, video calls these days burned through data.
It seemed Cthulhu had not recognized him at all.
On second thought, it made sense. Back in the Super Ancient era, Yuzhou had never shown his face to Cthulhu.
In fact, Cthulhu might still believe that the Tiga he had turned to stone was Yuzhou himself.
After bidding Himala farewell, Yuzhou left R'lyeh and flew toward the sea where Cthulhu resided.
Before long, he arrived and landed on a jagged reef.
Cthulhu's colossal body rested silently beneath the waves, unmoving, as though lost in thought.
Just like in the Super Ancient era—an octopus-like head atop a draconic body, dark green in colour.
"No point dragging this out," Yuzhou muttered.
He took out the Sparklence, ready to transform—
When suddenly, murmuring voices came from a nearby reef.
"Should I use this one… or this one? Hard to decide."
"This monster looks ridiculously hard to beat. What a headache."
Yuzhou followed the sound and saw a fat man wearing a black top hat and a black tailcoat, holding a handful of capsules and hesitating.
"Charija?"
Yuzhou had not expected to see him here—much less looking as though he planned to fight Cthulhu himself.
"Huh? When did you get back?" Charija turned around, froze for a moment, and then broke into a grin.
With Yuzhou back, there was no need for him to step in anymore.
"Just now," Yuzhou replied. "You can't handle that thing. Leave it to me."
"No problem. I'm out!"
Without a second thought, Charija jumped onto his black umbrella and fled at top speed.
"…Seriously?"
Yuzhou stared blankly. When it came to running away, Charija was faster than a rabbit.
However, their exchange had caught Cthulhu's attention, snapping him out of his contemplation.
When Cthulhu saw Yuzhou, he immediately recognized him as the arrogant human from the earlier video call.
But when his gaze shifted to the Sparklence in Yuzhou's hand, his composure shattered.
"Tiga?!"
"Didn't I already sink Tiga into the deep sea?!"
"Cthulhu," Yuzhou said with a faint, dangerous smile, "it's been thirty million years. Let me see how powerful you are now that your seal is broken."
He raised the Sparklence, about to press the transformation button.
"What?!"
Cthulhu reacted instantly, lashing out with a tentacle.
With a sharp crack, the Sparklence was knocked from Yuzhou's hand and sent flying into the sea.
"Hahahahaha! Even if you are Tiga, without a transformation device, you are nothing!"
Despite his laughter, Cthulhu was panicking inside.
He knew the fatal weakness of the Giants of Light—humans required a transformation device to become Ultramen.
Destroy the device, and Tiga could not appear.
"Is that so?"
Yuzhou's expression did not change.
The instant his words fell, his body erupted into brilliant light and rapidly grew in size.
The pitch-black darkness trembled.
The raging sea fell silent.
Within a hundred-li radius, the black fog was driven away, replaced by cascading radiance.
"How is this possible?!"
Staring at the overwhelming light that illuminated the entire darkened sea, Cthulhu was completely dumbfounded.