Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

A catastrophe aimed at annihilating the Kirieloids has already quietly descended, but they, immersed in exhaustion, wishful thinking, and self-comfort, are completely unaware of it, still indulging in unrealistic fantasies about that slim chance of "peace."

"That guy Storm One is really awful," the Kirieloid sitting in the main seat complained again, his voice full of resentment and helplessness.

The thought of the devastation caused by the destruction of the old base, the casualties of its people, and the loss of vast energy reserves made it feel its blood surge and its primordial energy fluctuate violently, causing the cracks on its face to deepen.

Thinking about this, it became even more depressed.

What troubles them even more is that after the last heavy blow, the tribe is severely short of funds, and subsequent energy replenishment and weapons development have become problems. Even the materials for rebuilding the base were barely cobbled together.

"And now even funding is hard to come by," it muttered to itself, its voice filled with deep anxiety. "If this continues, let alone invading Earth, it will be difficult to even preserve the foundation of our race."

"That bastard Storm One will pay the price sooner or later!" A Kirieloid man in a tattered trench coat gritted his teeth and echoed, his fists clenched so tightly that his stiff joints made a "creaking" sound from the force.

Despite its fierce words, its eyes showed no confidence, only deep fear—Storm One was simply too powerful, and they had no ability to confront it head-on.

Just as they were filled with resentment towards Storm One and anxiety about the lack of funds, falling into a new round of dejection and silence, a Kirieloid sitting on the edge, wearing a faded plaid shirt, suddenly froze, stiffly turned his head, tilted his ear to listen carefully, and hesitantly asked, "You...you heard anything?"

"Huh?" The other Kirieloids were interrupted by these sudden words, and they all looked up, their faces full of confusion.

The silence they had just endured had kept them so absorbed in their own emotions that they hadn't noticed anything happening around them.

Upon hearing their companion's reminder, the Kirielod people quickly composed themselves, held their breath, and listened attentively.

This time, they heard it clearly—a series of muffled, thunderous footsteps approaching from the perimeter of the base, “thump! thump! thump!” Each sound slammed heavily on the ground, causing even the ground inside the base to tremble slightly. The energy core in the center of the conference table became more unstable due to the vibration, flickering on and off.

"It seems...it seems that's really the case!" The Kirieloid, wearing a tattered trench coat, changed his expression, his tone filled with panic.

The footsteps were so heavy, carrying a chilling sense of oppression, that they could never have been made by an ordinary human or a small creature.

Just as they were about to send someone out to investigate, a violent fluctuation suddenly came from the base's energy shield. Then, with a loud "boom," the base's disguised entrance was smashed open, and a large amount of rubble and steel bars flew in.

As smoke and dust billowed, a colossal figure appeared at the base entrance—the gun-wielding monster, formed from the fusion of old weapons of the Chosen One and powered by Eberon cells.

The monster was covered in dark purple metallic armor, its body covered with weapon-specific patterns, and dozens of cannons of varying sizes were flashing with a ghostly purple light. It was surrounded by a strong battle aura, and its massive body almost occupied the entire entrance, casting a shadow that enveloped half of the conference room.

"Wow, quite a nice monster!" A Kirieloid, whose mind hadn't quite caught up yet, looked at the powerful monster in front of it and unconsciously exclaimed, its tone carrying a hint of inexplicable admiration. In its eyes, the monster's form and energy fluctuations were extremely intimidating, and if it could be used for its own purposes, it might be able to make up for the gap in the tribe's combat power.

"Idiot! Still feeling sentimental!" As soon as it finished speaking, its companion flew into a rage, raised its stiff but powerful arm, and slapped it hard across the face.

With a sharp "smack," the Kirieloid who had been expressing his feelings was slapped so hard that he spun half a circle on the spot and crashed heavily onto the cold ground. The human carrier's cheek instantly caved in, and pale purple energy oozed from the wound.

"That monster is heading towards our base! It's coming for us!" The Kirieloid who had made the move pointed at the gun-wielding monster at the entrance, his voice sharp and shrill with extreme panic. "This is our newly assembled base! We haven't even had a chance to warm it up yet!"

The Kirieloid, knocked to the ground, finally snapped out of his daze. Watching the monster draw ever closer, feeling the increasing pressure and the deadly threat emanating from its cannon locked on him, he was terrified. He didn't even have the strength to get up, and could only collapse to the ground, wailing, "Holy crap! It's over!!! This is utterly over!"

The conference room instantly descended into chaos. The already exhausted Kirieloids were now in a panic. Some tried to activate the base's defense system, some tried to find an escape route, and some were so frightened that they were trembling all over, barely able to maintain their source energy. The skin of their human carriers began to crack rapidly, and the scene was a complete mess.

In the chaos, a few Kirieloids mustered their last strength and managed to escape through the emergency escape routes pre-installed inside the base.

They staggered and collapsed onto the rubble of the abandoned industrial area. The chests of the human bodies heaved violently as they gasped for breath. Their stiff limbs trembled incessantly due to excessive energy depletion, and the cracks on their faces widened further, with pale purple primordial energy seeping out along the cracks.

Before they could even catch their breath, a deafening roar erupted behind them—"BOOM!!!"

The group turned around abruptly and saw that the new base they had just escaped from had been blasted into its core by the dark purple energy cannons that covered the entire body of the gun-wielding monster.

The base's camouflage layer collapsed instantly, the thick reinforced concrete walls crumbled and collapsed like paper, the pale purple energy patterns broke apart inch by inch in the explosion, and the main body of the base, which was originally hidden behind the ruins, collapsed in the smoke and fire, turning into a burning wasteland.

The hastily constructed facilities, the cobbled-together energy devices, and their meager remaining energy reserves were all destroyed in the explosion.

"No—!!!" A Kirieloid roared in anguish, struggling to get up and rush toward the ruins despite the excruciating pain in his body, but was held down by his companions.

His voice was filled with despair and collapse, and the energy patterns around his eyes flickered wildly. "My base! That's the base we built with loans!!!" These words were like a sharp knife, piercing the hearts of the other Kirieloids.

Yes, this new base wasn't built with funds from the tribe at all. Instead, they were desperate and mortgaged most of their primordial potential to the tribe's internal energy bank to get a loan to barely build it.

They thought they could use this base to recuperate and slowly prepare for the invasion plan, pay off the loan and redeem their potential as soon as possible. But unexpectedly, the base was completely destroyed by this monster that suddenly appeared before it was even built and had a chance to warm up.

“It’s over. It’s really over now.” Another Kirieloid slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the burning ruins, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows.

If the base is gone, the loans cannot be repaid, and the mortgaged potential will be forcibly stripped away. At that point, let alone invading Earth, they won't even be able to maintain a basic form, and will ultimately only suffer the fate of their origin dissipating.

The thought of this sent a deep-seated fear and despair through my entire body.

The gun-wielding monster slowly emerged from the ruins, its massive body creaking and groaning as it stepped on the collapsed building wreckage.

Its dark purple aura remained intense, and dozens of cannons slowly turned towards the slumped Kirieloid people on the ground. The dark purple energy began to gather again, clearly intending to completely wipe them out.

“There’s no escaping it.” The Kirieloid sitting in the main seat slowly raised his head, his face showing weariness and dejection replaced by extreme anger and determination.

He clenched his fist tightly, his stiff joints making a cracking sound. "Rather than be stripped of my essence and dissipate, I'd rather fight it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a strong pale red light suddenly burst forth from his body.

The originally rigid human bodies rapidly disintegrated in the light, revealing the original spiritual life form of the Kirieloids. Their bodies then expanded rapidly, covered with lava-like dark red armor, and the glowing objects on their foreheads and chests began to flash wildly. A pair of huge wings with flame patterns slowly unfolded from their backs—this was their battle form, the Flame Demon Warrior!

Seeing this, the other Kirielods also gave up their last hope.

The courage born of despair unleashed their final potential, tearing apart their human bodies and transforming into streaks of red light that shot into the sky, successively transforming into the Flame Demon Warrior form.

In an instant, the sky above the abandoned industrial area was shrouded in a dense aura of flames. Several fire demon warriors, each tens of meters tall, stood side by side, their bodies engulfed in raging infernal flames, their fierce eyes locked onto the gun-wielding monsters below.

"Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me!" The leading fire demon warrior roared furiously, his voice filled with the scorching heat of flames and the desperate ferocity of despair.

He swung his arm, which was covered in sharp wrist blades, and swooped down toward the gun-wielding monster. The wrist blades were wreathed in raging infernal flames, leaving a dazzling red trail.

The other fire demon warriors followed closely behind, some gathering energy to prepare to launch hellfire bullets, others spreading their wings to accelerate their charge, all with the determination to die, to fight to the death against the monster that had destroyed everything they had.

The gun-wielding monster showed no fear and fired its dark purple energy cannon, which collided with the Flame Demon Warrior's infernal flames in mid-air.

The shockwave from the violent explosion swept in all directions, overturning the surrounding abandoned buildings once again. The flames and dark purple energy intertwined, illuminating this desperate battlefield.

The Eberon cells, trapped in the monster's core, felt the violent energy fluctuations and were filled with utter despair—they never imagined that the chain reaction triggered by their parasitic weapon would push these Kirieloids to such a point. This battle had completely exceeded everyone's expectations.

The deafening roar of the collision between dark purple energy and infernal flames sent shockwaves hurling debris several meters into the air from the abandoned industrial zone. Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the battle escalated into a fierce, white-hot frenzy from the very beginning. The Ebolon cells, trapped within the energy core of the gun-wielding monster, were already terrified by the ferocious atmosphere of the battle. They could clearly sense the monster's energy rapidly dwindling, while their own life force was being drained in tandem. At this rate, forget revenge or survival; they would inevitably perish along with the monster in the battle.

In desperation, the Ebolon cells disregarded everything else and, with their last ounce of strength, frantically sent out distress signals to the Kirieloids opposite them through the energy fluctuations of the gun-wielding monster: "Stop! Stop! We didn't mean to! Please help us! We've been controlled by this monster!"

Their energy fluctuations were rapid and chaotic, filled with humble pleas, but to the Kyrielords, who were in a state of rage and despair, it was not a cry for help at all.

This is fucking provocation!!!
"Damn it! They destroyed the base we built with loans, and now they dare to provoke us!" The leading Flame Demon Warrior was already furious because of the destruction of the base. When he felt this rapid energy fluctuation, he felt that the other party was mocking his incompetence. The hellfire around him instantly surged several meters, and his eyes were so fierce that they could drip fire.

Another Balrog warrior, wielding his burning wrist blades to parry the energy cannons of the gun-wielding monster, roared in response, his voice filled with destructive ferocity: "Ebolon cells!!! You're finished! Today, we'll not only destroy this damned monster, but we'll also crush you filthy cells completely, making you pay for our base's destruction!"

"I'm so innocent!!!" Upon hearing this, the Ebolon cells completely collapsed. Their distress energy surges became even more desperate, mixed with sobs. "Who the hell could have imagined that the weapons related to Storm One had self-awareness! We originally wanted to use the weapons as carriers, but we ended up being controlled by them instead! Waaah! We're victims too!"

They frantically tried to explain, attempting to make the Kirieloids understand that it was a misunderstanding, but the Kirieloids were already blinded by rage and wouldn't listen to any explanations. In their eyes, this gun-wielding monster powered by Eboron cells was the culprit that had destroyed everything they had, and every energy transfer from the Eboron cells was a show of arrogance towards them.

"Enough talk! Take this!" The leading fire demon warrior no longer hesitated. With a sudden flap of his fiery wings, he charged towards the gun-wielding monster like an arrow. Dense hellfire condensed on his wrist blade, and he slashed fiercely at the monster's energy core—the very place where the Eberon cells were imprisoned.

The gun-wielding monsters were not to be outdone, firing simultaneously from all their cannons, unleashing a barrage of dark purple energy projectiles like a torrential downpour upon the Balrog warriors. Meanwhile, the Ebolon cells at the core, watching the approaching fiery wrist blades and feeling the impact of the exploding energy projectiles, realized with despair that not only had their cries for help failed to save them, but their misunderstood "provocation" had instead pushed them into an even more dangerous abyss. (End of Chapter)