Ultraman: I am really just a human.

Chapter 36 Kuuga's Master

"Get out of the way!"

The patrolling knights arrived at the scene one after another, and soon only the knights and the turtle-shaped Gurongi remained to fight in the barrier area.

Despite being surrounded, the turtle-shaped Gurongi was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he straightened his chest and let the attacks fall on him.

Faced with his invincible defense, these so-called Kamen Riders could not cause any damage at all; it was no different from tickling him.

"Bang!"

"This guy... is impossible to damage!"

The leader of the team, after transforming, also belongs to the bee type. After loading weapons, he hit the chest of the turtle-type Gurongi with a heavy hammer, but was almost paralyzed by the shock.

Before it could even shake the tortoise-shaped Gurongi, it was forced to retreat several steps.

"They're not even in the same league as the old Gurongi!" the leading knight said with apprehension.

While dealing with the Gurongi was not easy before, I had never felt this powerless before.

He's already used equipment borrowed from the league...

"Hmph, have you had enough?"

The tortoise-shaped Gurongi moved his arm slightly, and a ring-shaped iron chain ball that he had taken from between his fingers quickly magnified.

"You guys are out of luck. I'm furious right now."

"Is this the murder weapon?"

Hiroko Asami, who was observing from outside the barrier, looked slightly surprised.

The recently emerged Gurongi seem to all possess this special ability to manipulate matter.

Is it because it is a higher Gurongi?

"Bang bang bang!"

As the chain ball whistled through the air, the knights who were attacking in the arena were all hit hard and sent flying out of the battle circle, leaving only the newcomers Fujiwara Saiji and Murai Ryota.

Although they looked a bit strained, the two newcomers did manage to withstand the chain ball attack from the turtle-shaped Grongi, completely outperforming many of the other "Extreme Fox" series riders.

These people became knights a year early, but it seems that they lacked not only equipment, but also very poor abilities.

Perhaps because they didn't encounter too much trouble, they clearly neglected training and their understanding of the Gurongi was not as profound as that of Fujiwara no Saiji and Murai Ryota.

"What?"

The leader of the team was quite incredulous when he saw Fujiwara Saiji and Murai Ryota fighting together after their transformation.

Fujiwara's most eccentric transformation into a royal bee wasn't surprising, but what was unexpected was that Murai Ryota actually transformed into Kuuga.

The figure in red armor looked particularly striking.

"This guy is Kuuga?! What's going on?"

The knights helped each other to their feet, but dared not easily re-enter the battle, and could only watch as the two newcomers and the turtle-shaped Gurongi fought.

"Are these guys really newbies?"

"Red Kuuga... Kaminari succeeded?"

Hiroko Asami's expression subtly shifted as she watched from the sidelines.

She knew about Ryota Murai's situation and had heard Natsukawa mention it; it seemed she was guiding Ryota Murai to transform.

The fact that Ryota Murai didn't lose control and transform into Black Kuuga this time is definitely not normal.

"Beep beep beep!"

The phone in the car suddenly vibrated. Asami Hiroko quickly looked away and, seeing that it was Natsukawa calling, hurriedly pressed the answer button.

"What's wrong, Kaminari?"

"I saw the report. You should be at the scene in Sumida Ward right now, right?"

Xia Chuan stood on the rooftop, in the wind, looking at the black sedan parked outside the barrier on the ground.

"Could you help me contact the Alliance Command? To deal with that Gurongi, we need to close the barrier and find a way to lure it out of the city."

"what?"

Hiroko Asami didn't react for a moment. Hearing the sound of wind on the phone, she subconsciously looked at the surrounding tall buildings.

"You're here too?"

"At school."

Xia Chuan took a step back and said without changing his expression.

"Listen, Kuuga can indeed completely destroy the Grongi, but Murai doesn't have that ability yet. If this continues, it will definitely get out of control again. Moreover, once that Grongi explodes inside the barrier, the consequences will probably be no different from a nuclear explosion. The Alliance should really reconsider."

"But……"

Hiroko Asami tightened her grip on her phone, but finally nodded.

"Let me report first; the command should understand."

During this period, she had a conflict with the commander assigned by the Alliance due to work-related reasons.

However, when it comes to critical issues, the commander should not act recklessly.

"Beep!"

After ending the call, Xia Chuan continued to observe the ground battle.

A level-4 Gurongi is comparable to a level-4 Knight, so it's normal that a group of level-2 Knights are no match for them.

Fujiwara Saiji and Murai Ryota have been able to hold on until now because of the advantages of the Rider system and their training results, and because the Gurongi of the Tortoise type have always focused on defense.

Ryota Murai posed a considerable threat to the Gurongi of the Tortoise Formation, and it was clear that the Gurongi of the Tortoise Formation were wary of him.

"Close the barrier?"

At the Alliance branch, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, dressed in a suit, stood in front of an electronic map of Tokyo. He was watching the battle footage when he received the report.

Who reached that conclusion?

"The sender was Hiroko Asami from the support team, but the analysis is said to have come from Shinji Kaminaga, the former strategic planning officer of the FOT team."

"Shinji Kaminari..."

The middle-aged man squinted slightly.

"The lucky one chosen by Ultraman in the past? Let's do as he says, the city can't withstand a big explosion."

"Yes."

After the assistant left, the middle-aged man used his exclusive access to retrieve all of Shinji Kaminaga's information.

"He's actually a tutor at the Knights Academy... Five years have passed, has the former hero fallen so low? What a pity, now it's the age of knights after all."

"Whoosh!"

At the battle site in Sumida Ward, the barrier that had been sealing off the area suddenly turned into bubbles and vanished, and many Kamen Riders were the first to notice the anomaly.

"What happened? Why is the barrier gone?"

With the barrier in place, they could withdraw from the battle at any time, but now they are completely exposed to the Gurongi's attacks.

"Retreat now!"

"It seems there are no problems."

Xia Chuan's mood was completely different from the knights'. He breathed a sigh of relief, his waist belt reappeared, and he instantly transformed into his Azure Dragon form.

He wasn't lying; if things continued this way, there was indeed a risk that Murai Ryota would lose control.

The spirit stone responds to the host's desire to "become stronger." Even if Ryota Murai successfully transforms into his all-powerful form, he can still easily transform into Black Kuuga in battle.

If the stimulus is strong enough, it's not impossible for the ultimate Kuuga to be born.

"Buzz!"

Hiroko Asami, inside the car, was anxiously watching the turtle-shaped Grongi and was about to relay instructions to the riders on site when she suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings overhead.

"Um?"

Before anyone could figure out what was happening, the car suddenly jolted, and then the front of the car underwent a violent transformation under a strange armor covering.

A huge, iconic Kuuga character appeared before Hiroko Asami's eyes.

"This is……"

"senior!"

Kazumi Takahashi shivered and hugged Hiroko Asami.

Not only the front of the car, but also the doors on both sides were deformed.

The entire vehicle seemed to be wrapped in something, turning it into a bizarre armored vehicle.

They wanted to get out of the car but found that the doors couldn't be opened.

The car was completely out of their control.

"No, it's nothing."

Hiroko Asami swallowed hard, trying to maintain a calm demeanor in front of her partner, while her eyes were fixed on the special text that appeared on the front of the car.

Because she was specifically in charge of investigating Kuuga, she was extremely familiar with information related to Kuuga, including the unusual script engraved on Kuuga's belt.

"Wait, this text is appearing on the car body, could it be...?"

"Bang!"

Xia Chuan, in his Azure Dragon form, landed on the roof of the chariot, then transformed into the All-Powerful Ascension form. Golden lightning spread from his legs and feet throughout the chariot, condensing into an even more powerful golden chariot armor.

Even when not inside the vehicle, this chariot can still be controlled by one's own will, as if it were an extension of its limbs.

"Sizzle!"

Xia Chuan locked his gaze on the tortoise-shaped Gurongi in the center of the square, lowered his center of gravity slightly, and charged straight into the battle circle on his golden shovel-shaped insect chariot.

"What the hell?"

"Another Kuuga?!"

The knights retreated and made way, exposing the two royal bees, along with the turtle-shaped Grongi, to the front of the chariot.

"Um?!"

"Kuuga-sensei!"

"Bang!"

Without slowing down at all, the chariot suddenly lifted the back of the turtle-shaped Gurongi, and together with the two Royal Bees, rushed out of the square.

"Is this... a shift in the battlefield?"

Hiroko Asami pinched her partner's butt and stared blankly at the two knights and the Grongi hanging on the front of the chariot.

The tanks sped onto the highway, accelerating towards the outskirts. The people in the front of the tanks seemed to be paralyzed by electricity, clinging tightly to the front of the tanks in the strong wind, seemingly unable to resist.

Kuga's car is pretty impressive...

No, that looks like her car!

"squeak--!"

In the desolate mountains outside the city, the tanks leaving the city suddenly began to slow down, and the final sudden stop threw the two Royal Bees and the Turtle-shaped Grongi off the road.

"Cough cough cough!"

The royal bee finally recovered and jumped up after landing. However, when it turned around, it could not see the chariot that had brought them there. There was only a faint afterimage at the end of the road in the distance.

The golden chariot did not stop, but instead performed a 180-degree drift and sped back.

"Kuuga-sensei?? What does that mean?"

Looking at the turtle-shaped Gurongi that had also been left behind on the other side, Fujiwara Saiji's forehead was full of question marks.

He has self-awareness.

He and Murai Ryota alone were no match for the turtle-shaped Gurongi; it was already quite impressive that they could hold out for so long.

I thought that holding out until Master Kuga arrived would be enough, but...

"There's no other way but to give it our all!"

Fujiwara Saiji flicked his wrist, and the Royal Bee Knight once again faced the turtle-shaped Gurongi.

"Murai, I'm prepared to die. What about you?"

"..."

I'll start updating twice a week in March, and aim to release the book in April.

(End of this chapter)