Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

Lately, Daigo has been plagued by strange dreams. He listens attentively in class during the day and studies diligently at night, but as soon as he lies down in bed, images of giants uncontrollably creep into his dreams, making it very difficult for him to sleep soundly.

That night, the dream arrived as expected.

At first, the dream was of a bright grassland, sunlight shining on the grass, giving it a golden glow. In the distance, several tall giants stood together, one half of them radiating a warm light, as if enveloped in sunlight, they were giants of light; the other half were surrounded by soft shadows, yet without any ferocity, they were giants of darkness.

To Daigo's surprise, there was no tense confrontation between the giants of light and darkness; instead, there was a rare harmony. The giant of light would extend his hand, and the giant of darkness would gently grasp it. When they looked at each other, their eyes were full of trust. They would even sit side by side on the grass, as if sharing something. Although they couldn't hear each other, they could feel the friendship that transcended the boundaries of "light and darkness," a friendship that was both warm and healing.

Daigo stood not far away, quietly watching this scene, his heart filled with curiosity—could giants of light and darkness really become friends?
Just as he was about to approach and see the giant's appearance clearly, the sky suddenly changed. The once clear sky was instantly swallowed by thick darkness, which came quickly and fiercely, sweeping in like a giant wave, quickly blotting out the sun and preventing even a ray of light from penetrating. The temperature on the grassland plummeted. The giant of light and the giant of darkness both stood up, their composure vanishing, replaced by solemnity. They stood back to back, seemingly resisting the sudden darkness, but the darkness was too powerful, gradually engulfing their figures…

"what!"

Daigo sat bolt upright in bed, his chest heaving and his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat. Moonlight streamed through the curtains, casting a hazy glow in the room. The overwhelming darkness from his dream still seemed to linger, leaving him with lingering fear.

He looked down at his hands, then touched his chest; the oppressive feeling from the dream hadn't completely dissipated. "It's that dream again..." Daigo muttered to himself, his face filled with confusion. He was just a college student, preoccupied with exam scores, homework, and whether or not to play ball with his classmates after school. He'd never been involved with anything related to "Attack on Titan," so why was he having this strange dream repeatedly?
Giants of light, giants of darkness, their incredible friendship, and the final darkness that devoured everything... These images were so real they didn't seem like a dream, yet he had no idea what they meant.

“Those giants… why do I have such strange dreams…” Daigo scratched his head, his brows furrowed. He shook his head, trying to dispel the images in his dream, but when he thought about the midterm exams next week, and how he would fail them if he couldn’t sleep well because of nightmares, he would definitely be scolded by his parents when he got home, and might even be restricted from going out, he couldn’t help but sigh.

More than figuring out the meaning of his dream, Daigo was now anxious about his exams. He threw back the covers, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains a crack. Looking at the quiet street outside, he silently prayed, "Please don't have this dream again tonight. Let me get a good night's sleep. Getting good grades is more important than anything else!"

But he didn't know that these recurring dreams weren't meaningless. Those giants of light and darkness, those overwhelming shadows, had already planted seeds in his subconscious; it was just that the time hadn't come yet for him to uncover the mystery. Daigo rubbed his eyes, yawned, and lay back down on the bed, hoping to escape the torment of the dreams and get a good night's sleep.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!!!! All of you, fire!!! How the hell can there be such an outrageous monster? Blow it up!!!!"

Cui Ming's furious roar echoed throughout the entire combat unit via the cockpit communicator of Baliyas. Before the words had even finished, the armored vehicle, resembling a steel beast, erupted in a deafening roar of fire—the multi-barreled energy cannons on its roof and the missile launchers on its sides activated simultaneously. Beams of blazing energy and missiles trailing fiery exhaust plumes rained down on the fleeing monster, drawing blinding streaks of light across the night sky. "Boom boom boom boom!!!!!"

A series of explosions resounded through the sky, the flames illuminating the surrounding night sky. Debris and dust were hurled up by the shockwaves, forming a chaotic smokescreen. Even so, the pursued monster did not fall—it looked like a dinosaur magnified dozens of times, its body covered in thick scales, with sharp bone spurs on its back. The artillery fire that had struck it had only left a few shallow wounds, and had not even slowed its pace.

"Damn it, these scales are ridiculously hard!" Cui Ming gritted his teeth, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and swerved sharply. The tires of the Bali Yass screeched against the ground, and the vehicle shot off like an arrow, flanking the monster from the side and rear. He didn't slow down at all; instead, he floored the accelerator. The armored vehicle bounced wildly across the rugged terrain, yet still maintained an astonishing speed, like racing on a knife's edge. Every turn and every acceleration precisely locked onto the monster's movements.

The monster seemed to sense the threat behind it, abruptly turning around and opening its massive, fang-filled maw, spewing out a stream of corrosive green slime. Cui Ming reacted swiftly, pressing the emergency evasion button in the cockpit. An energy shield instantly rose from the Bali Yas's body. The slime splattered against the shield, producing a sizzling, corrosive sound. The shield flashed violently, but managed to barely block the attack.

"Still dare to retaliate?" Cui Ming's eyes sharpened, and he ordered again, "Adjust the angle of the artillery fire and concentrate your attacks on its eyes and joints! Those are its weak points!"

Balias's weapon system quickly adjusted, the muzzle of the energy cannon slightly lowered, aiming at the monster's eyes and leg joints. Another round of dense artillery fire came, this time, several energy cannons accurately hit the monster's eyes, the monster let out a painful roar, staggered back a few steps, and its speed obviously slowed down.

Just as Cui Ming was preparing to press his advantage, a question suddenly flashed through his mind: Strange. Why didn't Taganura directly retaliate against these things?
It is important to know that Taganura, as a "guardian of the cosmic defense line" who cooperates with humans, has an extremely strong sense of the monsters invading Earth. In the past, whenever a monster appeared, it would always arrive at the first moment and use its powerful strength to repel it.

This time, however, even though the dinosaur-like monster had already entered the city's outskirts, Taganura had yet to appear, and there was not even a hint of it wanting to retaliate.

“There’s definitely something fishy going on here.” Cui Ming frowned, a hint of doubt creeping into his mind. Could this monster be connected to Taganura in some way? Or has Taganura encountered some trouble and is unable to move?

However, the current situation didn't allow him time to think things through. Although the monster was injured, it was still struggling to escape. If it were allowed to return to the mountains or the sea, finding it again would be difficult. Cui Ming shook his head, temporarily suppressing his doubts, his eyes regaining their resolve: "Never mind, let's fight first!!"

He floored the accelerator again, and Barias, like a wild horse, charged towards the wounded monster. The artillery fire remained relentless, determined to completely destroy this outrageous creature. As for the mysteries surrounding Taganura, they could only be revealed slowly after this battle. (End of Chapter)