Ultraman Legend of the Light Chaser

Friendliness?

The monster roared again, opened its mouth and spat out several plasma balls crackling with lightning, which rained down on him.

Fos-001 nimbly dodged each attack, then hesitantly uttered the words to begin the mission: "Target located. Begin... capture."

The plasma ball disappeared into the horizon, and the monster flapped its wings again, stirring up a hurricane. As Fos-001 crossed its arms to block, the monster charged straight at the monster behind the hurricane.

Fos-001 tilted its head to avoid the glowing red beak, then turned around and slammed its right fist into the horny armor on the monster's head. "Boom—" The huge sound wave made the natives' ears hurt, and the monster was knocked off balance and fell to the ground.

Just as it was about to land on the light shield, the monster finally flapped its wings to maintain its balance. Under the worried gaze of the natives, it shook its head and flew back up.

Fos-001 didn't press his advantage earlier; otherwise, he should have taken advantage of the monster's disorientation and unleashed a beam of light. The monster would either have dodged it, allowing the beam to strike the protective shield of the city, or it would have obediently taken the hit, using its own body as a human shield for the city.

Because he heard a voice.

"who are you?"

The gentle voice and soft tone resembled Suffer's, causing Fos-001 to hesitate.

Why did you visit here?

In a daze, he turned his head to look at the distant horizon. It was sunset here, and the planet's parent star and two relatively distant companion stars hung on the horizon. The setting sun reflected on a few wisps of clouds, turning the earth into a blood-red color.

"Whoosh!" The sound of wind came, and he instinctively raised his hand, grabbing the monster's beak in his palm.

A dark red light swirled, and a sudden surge of intense heat from its beak caused him to let go, the monster brushing past him. The monster flapped one of its wings, and several steel-like feathers pierced the unresponsive Fos-001, sparking a trail of fire.

"Hiss—" The monster let out a sharp roar, and its feathers exploded, turning into countless fine spikes that pierced the mechanical armor, sending sparks flying.

The feathers were sharper than he had imagined, and several scratches appeared on the silver mechanical armor. The equipment department would probably be heartbroken for a while.

Fos-001 reached his right hand behind his waist, where three small sword-like objects hung. The handles were cylindrical, with several translucent crystal-like substances embedded inside to enhance the equipment's affinity with his light—weapons crafted for him by the equipment department.

He gripped the small sword, and with a flick of his wrist, light particles surged in, covering the blade with light, widening and extending it until it solidified into a silver longsword.

The monster turned around, a few feathers standing upright and pointing at him. Just as it was about to use the same trick again, Fos-001 had already rushed to the monster's side almost instantly, sword in hand.

Light gathered in his left hand, and a whip of light coiled and extended, wrapping around the monster's claws as it tried to dodge upwards. With a single pull, the monster was dragged downwards, the whip taut, and the monster could no longer move. It flapped its wings, trying to shoot out a few more steel feathers, but Fos-001 had already swung his lightsaber diagonally in his right hand, a crescent-shaped blade of light slashing preemptively at its wings.

"Don't hurt"

My child!

It was still that gentle voice, but now it carried a hint of urgency.

The monster's dark blue body glowed red, and the light extended into a tough outer garment. The light blade that Fos-001 slashed struck the outer garment, sparks exploded, and the light blade was shattered, turning into silver stardust.

The monster seemed much better, the effects of the punch to its head completely gone. It was also faster, its plasma balls glowing a vibrant purple as it unleashed a barrage of attacks on Fos-001 like a machine gun, seemingly oblivious to energy consumption.

Fos-001 dodged, but the plasma ball had gained tracking ability, chasing him around several corners. He raised his hand and threw out several light darts, shattering the plasma ball one by one. The monster's steel feathers, wrapped in red light, had already rushed to his side against the skylight.

"Boom boom boom!"

The even more powerful explosion caused ripples to spread across the light shield.

The indigenous people looked up at the center of the explosion's smoke, hoping their guardians' attack would be effective.

The smoke slowly dissipated, but the silver figure was nowhere to be seen in the center.

The monster looked up alertly, flapped its wings and flew backward. The lightsaber almost grazed its head and pierced through the skin near its beak, scattering dark blue blood with a hint of red into the sky.

The monster groaned in pain twice, and stirred up a storm that forced Fos-001 back.

"As a fellow guardian of the planet, why did you do this?!"

The voice was no longer gentle; it questioned coldly.

What guardian?

Ah, I did receive orders to protect the Yapool's spaceship.

Why should we protect those invaders' ships?

The voice followed his thoughts closely, asking further questions.

She can hear her own thoughts!

Fos-001's breath hitched, and when he came to his senses, a pair of huge, ferocious claws appeared before him.

The claws, amplified by the red light, tore through the mechanical armor. Although he managed to dodge in time, the silver armor on his chest had been deeply ripped open, exposing the twisted and complex circuitry and chips inside.

The guys in the equipment department are probably going to throw him, armor and all, into the maintenance solution again.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Fos-001 raised his sword to block the monster's second claw attack.

"What equipment department?"

The voice pressed on.

This sound is disturbing me! Fos-001 simply ignores it and focuses only on dealing with the monster's attacks.

"Are you the guardian of their planet?"

Fos-001 gripped the sword with both hands, exerting force to push the monster upwards, while the armor covering its forehead unfolded to the left and right, revealing a pale blue circular crystal inside.

The light converged, and a pale blue ray struck the monster's jaw.

The monster hissed and released its grip, and half of its claw was sliced ​​off by the lightsaber.

This time, he was completely focused, and the light swept across the area as he turned his head, scorching the red glow on his outer garment. Sparks flew, leaving a dark mark behind.

The voice was filled with obvious anger; if the person speaking to him were standing right in front of him, they would probably want to burn him to ashes with their fury.

"The planet's guardians actually willingly allowed themselves to be modified and to carry out acts of aggression!"

Perhaps Fos-001 was mistaken, but the horizon, illuminated by the setting sun, seemed to burn with an even more vibrant red, as if the entire planet were engulfed in flames.

Further afield, the Yapools, who had scattered to collect the energy of fear, discovered that the ravaged land was radiating a red light from its depths. The fleeing natives, upon touching the crystalline fragments of light, found themselves with a bit more strength.

The streaks of red light scattered outwards, converging towards a certain place like weary birds returning to their nests.

Red light fragments wove together into a ribbon, completely enveloping the monster and forming a giant red cocoon.

An invisible force pushed Fos-001 away. Knowing that his opponent would be even more difficult to deal with once the streak of light dissipated, Fos-001 did not give up. He still held his lightsaber in one hand to keep watch, while using the other hand to flick out a light whip that wrapped around the red cocoon.

The energy-condensed streak traveled upwards along the silver whip, coiling around Fos-001's arm, then flowing up the body and converging at the chest. The damaged parts of the mechanical armor used this energy to accelerate their self-repair, and the open wounds were visibly healing slowly.

The voice still connected to Fos-001's mind carried a hint of disdain.

"You corrupted light dare to absorb my energy? Fine, when the energy clashes later, you and your invaders will be blown to dust!"

"Traitors to the planet, my light is not so easily taken!"

Chapter Ten: The Light of Betrayal

While the Yapool ships, scattered in search of energy, were still wondering what was going on, the Fangt command ship had already sensed something was wrong and retreated to a more distant location.

Estend watched the screen with concern, and for some reason, he began to anticipate Fos-001's failure.

For someone who has received an elite education from Asia Pacific since childhood, this is a crime worthy of exile to a remote place.

"It's okay if I don't pass the internship, but... if I fail, Fos-001 will also be damaged, and what if it can't be retrieved..."

He recalled the day he saw his parents off, when the gentle breeze on their home planet made the suspended symbol sway slightly, like a star that liked to blink.

The most important person in his memory walked up the gangway and said to him, "We're going to observe the M35 star cluster. We'll be back soon."

When I bring you a gift—would you still prefer some plant seeds?

“I don’t want plant seeds anymore,” he said, raising his question: “Our teachers tell us to join the expeditionary force and bring glory to His Majesty! Why do you always prefer to go to remote planets to look at rocks and plants?”

The father lowered his hand from his head and said in a slow but serious tone, "Bullying the weak is not an honor. The expansion of the Yapools is unstoppable, but we can choose not to join them."

“But they looked so impressive wearing their medals!” Little Estend gestured to the M106 system conquest medal he had seen yesterday: “The medals were beautiful too! They had tassels around the edges, and in the center was the Maspacor gem, which is only found in the M106 system! And there was more…”

“I prefer seeing all kinds of life to that grandeur,” his mother interrupted him. She looked back at the closing hatch and said urgently, “Life is the most precious thing in this universe. Alright, Ed, your mom and dad’s spaceship is about to take off. You have to study hard. Before we return, you can think about what you like. If you don’t want plant seeds, tell your mom.”

“…Alright,” Little Estend stopped gesturing in the air, burying his envy of the medal deep in his heart: “Then… let’s go with plant seeds, they have to be pretty! And they can’t be too hard to grow, I don’t want to waste so much effort only to have them die.”

Back then, he envied the medals and wanted to shed the stigma of "deserted parents," so he chose the field of weapons research.

Now he is wavering.

The seeds he brought from M35 still died, and he was heartbroken for a long time. He knew what that feeling of loss was—it was the last gift his parents had given him.

There's also Grandpa Gurudas, and Grandma Sertia, who sadly passed away in front of him.

Just now, he saw more, more sudden, and more intense separations of life and death on the screen. From being full of ambition to being shocked and disappointed, he suddenly began to understand his parents, who were called "deserters." Or rather, the seeds that his parents had planted in his heart had finally sprouted.

Fos-001... A life of light twisted by the desires of the Yapool, a weapon that gathers fear and "glory" for the Yapool.

He stared intently at the screen, his eyes unblinking. There, Fos-001 and the monster whose red cocoon had dissipated were locked in battle once more, blinding flashes and explosions erupting continuously in their fighting area. The protective shield over the city appeared quite fragile under such intense combat, as if it would break at the slightest touch.

At school, Estend watched many videos of the Land of Light's police defeating monsters.

Just like before, he still hopes the monster can win.

This time is different from before; he hopes Ultraman won't get hurt either.

“It’s just self-deception,” he thought. “This planet is part of the conquest plan. If Fos-001 fails, we’ll just send in more troops and ships. But if Fos-001 wins, their cities will… They’ve lost loved ones. They’ll be sad, won’t they?”

Fos-001 was also in a bad mood. After that voice declared war on him, the monster seemed to have taken some kind of tonic.

At first, the monster was no match for him; the plasma ball could not cause paralysis, and the steel feathers could not break through his defenses.

Now, this monster, shrouded in dark red light, can tear countless holes in his mechanical armor simply by flapping its wings and creating a hurricane.

And that persistent voice kept chattering in his mind.