Chapter 78: Since You're Here, Stay a While! (4)

Two radiant wheels of light sliced through the air, severing the two pincered arms of the symbiotic monster as easily as a knife through tofu. The dismembered pincers flew overhead, and Jojo raised his foot for a powerful kick, sending the creature hurtling backward. His gaze swept over the fallen pincers, and Jojo strode forward, gripping one in each hand. These felt like two massive clubs in his grasp.

Though called a symbiotic fusion monster, in truth, it was two creatures cooperating, and the pain was not shared between them. Krabaga, whose arms had been cut off, let out a peculiar cry: “Chaa! Chaa!” The symbiotic monster crashed to the ground—Krabaga writhed in agony, while Anemos felt nothing.

Jojo, wielding the two pincers, advanced boldly, frightening the monster into a desperate struggle. Krabaga staggered upright, hurriedly turning his back, armored with barbed shell, toward Jojo. But Jojo was not about to strike with his bare hands. He raised the pincers and brought them down hard upon Krabaga’s shell.

Truth be told, he had never seen a monster so eager to be beaten. Did it have some peculiar inclination?

“Chaa!” Krabaga’s scream echoed as its own pincers shattered the shell, opening two gaping wounds from which viscous purple blood oozed.

Overwhelmed by pain, Krabaga quickly flipped its body, switching states. Anemos surfaced above, while Krabaga retreated below. The transformation restored the symbiotic monster’s arms—though now short, resembling two tufts of green foliage.

“Fuuu!” Anemos emitted a sound akin to a sperm whale’s call, opening its maw upon seeing Jojo. The fetid, flower-like mouth prepared to spew poisonous vapor.

But just as Anemos opened its jaws, Jojo thrust the two pincers deep within, pushing them forcefully inside. The intended poisonous smoke was swallowed back, and Anemos’s mouth, impaled by the pincers, gushed blood.

As if unable to bear the humiliation, it flipped again, exposing Krabaga. The symbiotic monster’s form shifted once more, and Jojo, seeing Krabaga’s whip-like tendrils atop its head, grabbed them with both hands.

Krabaga staggered, unable to resist without arms, dragged helplessly. The next moment, the symbiotic monster was hurled into the air, then slammed down onto the ground with a resounding crash.

Jojo did not relent, seizing the tendrils and continuing to smash the creature into the earth. The ground shook and thundered.

The intense vibration and noise roused Mirai Asano from her unconsciousness. She opened her eyes, bewildered, feeling pain at her neck. She reached up to cover it and stood: “What’s going on? What happened?”

No one responded. Puzzled, Mirai Asano soon spotted the battle between Jojo and the symbiotic monster.

“That’s... Jojo.”

Suddenly she recalled Hiroya Fujimiya, the blue Ultraman. If he was a human, Jojo might be as well.

“That guy isn’t here. He must have knocked me out earlier.” Mirai Asano, clutching her aching neck, began to speculate.

“So you’re Jojo... Humans favored by Ultraman, how lucky you are.” Watching the overwhelming battle, Mirai Asano murmured softly. Her longstanding worry that humanity would be abandoned began to fade.

“I’ll keep your secret!” she thought, feeling a newfound sense of peace.

Just then, Mirai Asano sensed something, her expression changing abruptly.

“No! More Krabaga and Anemos are coming!” Years of paleontology research had given her an intuition—she could sense Anemos’s presence while in the lab.

Realizing the situation, Mirai Asano hurriedly shouted toward the battlefield, “Jojo! Eliminate that monster quickly! There’s not much time!”

With Ultraman’s heightened senses, Jojo easily heard her voice. He glanced at Mirai Asano, thinking how quickly she’d recovered.

Mirai Asano continued, “That monster is summoning its kind! It must be destroyed now, or more ancient creatures will emerge from the microscopic world into reality!”

Meanwhile, on the Peace Carrier, Director Sei received a report from Atsuko.

“Director Sei, there are shadows of massive creatures appearing in Tokyo Bay!”

“What!?” The news changed Sei’s expression at once.

The communication from the Peace Carrier was audible to Jojo, who nodded in Ultraman fashion toward Mirai Asano on the ground. It seemed the woman had made up her mind—now eager to annihilate the symbiotic monster.

While these thoughts raced through his mind, Jojo quickly withdrew, putting distance between himself and the adversary. He raised a clenched fist to the crystal on his forehead. With a single swing, light flashed, and his entire form shifted into a violet storm mode.

His right arm rose, gathering crimson destructive energy, then smashed forward to unleash a massive red sphere of destructive light. It was Leo’s skill, now amplified in Jojo’s current form.

The sphere, radiant like holy light, struck the symbiotic monster directly, obliterating it in an instant.

With the monster vanquished, Jojo’s gaze swept over the yellow mist and the multitude of gigantic shadows sensed within Tokyo Bay.

Since they have come, none shall escape!

He pressed his palms together at his chest, gathering energy. Light transformed into wind energy, combined with ripple technique and Ultraman telekinesis, attuning to the countless particle waves between air and water molecules, enveloping Tokyo Bay in the process.

As Jojo’s arms flung open, a wave of purifying energy surged forth in a fan shape, spreading like ripples, endlessly expanding.

The yellow mist, swept by the wind, shattered into minute particles of light, then vanished utterly, purified.

Mirai Asano, caught in the wind, felt her negative emotions dissipate, her entire spirit invigorated.

The Lightning Squad, Cool Dragon Squad, and Director Sei on the Peace Carrier all felt a gentle breeze pass by. Even the cockpit could not block it; their moods grew peaceful, as if entering a sage-like calm.

In contrast, when the wind reached Tokyo Bay, the enormous ancient beings poised to emerge were instantly purified, erased without trace.

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

A grand wave of purification swept out, and Jojo’s Y-shaped energy core on his chest pulsed with a heartbeat-like sound.

This spectacle brought the XIG members out of their reverie, all turning instinctively to Jojo.

Since Jojo’s arrival, the energy timer on his chest had never flashed—today, for the first time, it flickered.

In the command room, Captain Ishimuro watched with a grave expression: ‘So Jojo is not invincible after all; he can run low on energy.’

He was pondering this when he saw Jojo take a couple of breaths, then the Y-shaped core ceased flashing, returning to normal.

Ishimuro: “...”

No, perhaps Jojo is still invincible.

(End of chapter)