I can't lose.
Ryan's mind flashed with memories.
Commander
Moroboshi Dan
teaching him again and again.
The grief on Hirono's face after losing his family.
The countless people who had died to monsters.
And the last two weeks of brutal training.
He remembered the moment he split a falling petal in the rushing water.
That single perfect strike.
"ZORUK!"
Ryan blocked the incoming blade with both arms.
This time, everything clicked.
His body moved in perfect harmony with
Ultraman Leo.
Anger burned through him as he kicked forward.
BOOM.
The impact echoed across the battlefield.
Alien Zoruk staggered backward.
Its massive feet carved long trenches through the dirt as it slid across the ground.
Ryan lowered his leg slowly.
His eyes widened.
"…That worked?"
Then he understood.
To break Zoruk's double attack…
He didn't necessarily need a third strike.
If the counterattack came fast enough, the second strike itself could break the monster's rhythm.
Ryan glanced at the flashing red timer on Leo's chest.
There wasn't much time left.
He stepped forward again.
Block.
Kick.
BOOM.
Zoruk screamed.
The monster's huge body flew backward dozens of meters.
Ryan clenched his fists.
I did it.
Power surged through Leo's body again.
This time it came from Ryan himself.
Not from Overclock.
Not from luck.
His own strength.
"Remaining time: fifteen seconds."
Ryan forced himself to stay calm.
He looked at the wounded monster struggling to stand.
"This ends now."
Ryan charged.
His fist slammed into Zoruk's stomach.
"That one was for every person you killed."
The monster staggered.
Ryan followed with a brutal uppercut.
The blow flipped Zoruk onto its back.
Hundreds of thousands of tons of force shook the ground.
The monster howled in pain.
Ryan raised both arms.
Energy gathered in Leo's hands.
"Die!"
His hands struck like blades.
Both of Zoruk's arm-blades snapped off instantly.
The spinning weapons flew through the air.
Then they plunged straight into the monster's chest.
For a moment, the battlefield went silent.
The setting sun cast long shadows across the ruins.
Then—
BOOM.
Zoruk exploded.
The monster's body disintegrated into ash.
Only smoke remained.
Leo's timer beeped rapidly in the quiet.
"Remaining time: three seconds."
Ryan looked once more at the battlefield.
Then he nodded toward the people watching from afar.
He crossed Leo's arms over his chest.
Light burst outward.
And the giant vanished.
MAC rescue teams worked through the night.
Monster Attack Crew soldiers rushed between damaged buildings.
There were wounded people everywhere.
Some had lost homes.
Some had lost family.
Some had lost everything.
For now, MAC handled everything.
Ryan stood quietly at a nearby intersection.
He watched the chaos in silence.
The result wasn't perfect.
Too many people had died.
Still…
The monster was gone.
The world was safe again.
Ryan looked down the street.
Several women were comforting children who had lost their parents in the disaster.
They tried to make the kids smile.
Ryan smiled faintly.
Ordinary people had their own kind of strength.
After standing there for a while, Ryan turned to leave.
Then—
"WARNING. EXTREME DANGER."
The system alarm suddenly rang in his head.
Ryan stopped.
"…What?"
The monster was already dead.
Could another one appear this fast?
A strange chill ran down his spine.
Then something even stranger happened.
The noise of the street faded away.
Voices vanished.
It felt like Ryan had been separated from the world.
The people around him continued walking.
But they seemed far away.
Like they existed in another dimension.
"Ultraman… Leo…"
A voice drifted through the air.
Ryan turned.
A figure stood among the crowd.
A man dressed entirely in black.
People walked right past him.
None of them reacted.
None of them noticed.
Yet the man was clearly there.
"Ultraman Leo."
Ryan tried to move.
His body wouldn't respond.
An invisible force held him in place.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
Ryan called out inside his mind.
"001!"
Silence.
The system didn't respond.
Ryan had never felt so helpless.
The black-clad figure slowly approached.
With every step, the pressure around Ryan grew heavier.
It felt like the weight of the world pressing down on him.
Is this it?
Am I really going to die here?
Ryan stared at the man with everything he had left.
Then—
"Don't touch him!"
A small black blur jumped between them.
The familiar voice rang out.
"Even you should respect the rules of space-time."
Ryan blinked.
The talking cat stood in front of him.
Bolidoan
The mysterious man stopped.
"…Bolidoan."
His voice sounded distant.
"So you're still interfering."
Bolidoan's tail flicked.
"I'm surprised you haven't given up yet."
The cat's voice turned cold.
"Dark Zagi."
Ryan's eyes widened.
Dark… Zagi?
The man chuckled softly.
"Given up?"
"No… I simply find this tiresome."
Through the shadows of his hood, Ryan caught a glimpse of icy eyes.
The man spoke again.
"…Ultraman Noa."
Ryan frowned.
Noa?
Before he could ask anything—
The man's body faded away.
Like mist dissolving into the air.
The pressure vanished.
Sound returned to the world.
Cars drove past.
Pedestrians walked by normally.
Several people glanced strangely at Ryan and the cat standing in the middle of the street.
Bolidoan sniffed.
"Human. Come with me."
Its voice was just as arrogant as ever.
But Ryan didn't argue.
The creature had just forced someone like that to retreat.
And… it had saved his life.
Ryan suddenly remembered grabbing the cat by the neck earlier.
…Uh-oh.
He followed quietly.
Bolidoan moved slowly.
But somehow, Ryan had to hurry just to keep up.
Soon they reached the roof of a tall building.
The cat jumped onto the railing.
Then it turned and looked down at him.
"So."
"I assume you now understand your situation."
Ryan frowned.
"What situation?"
Bolidoan's tail swayed.
"The man you saw earlier was Dark Zagi."
"The dark god of destruction."
The cat jumped onto Ryan's shoulder.
"You interfered with his plans."
"He will never let you live."
Ryan stared at the skyline.
"So that guy really was Zagi…"
"What exactly is going on?"
Bolidoan began speaking.
"My people have existed since ancient times."
"We can travel through space and time."
"Our civilization is known as the Noah Tribe."
"Our protector is the god of light…"
"Ultraman Noa."
As the cat spoke, the air around them rippled.
Waves spread across the space.
The rooftop vanished.
Ryan suddenly found himself floating in space.
He recognized the feeling.
It was just a projection.
A vision.
Bolidoan continued.
"One day, a dark counterpart appeared."
"Dark Zagi."
"He had no true body."
"So he hid within an artificial giant modeled after Ultraman Noa."
The vision changed.
A ruined civilization appeared before Ryan.
Massive structures lay shattered.
Among the debris were enormous stone bodies buried under rubble.
Ryan leaned forward.
"…Those are…"
Statues.
Thousands of them.
Ultraman statues.