Bighorn Bull is in charge of leading, and I, Beria, am in charge of raising it.

He was the first child among the survivors to approach Belial!

Although the hem of her skirt was torn in several places by pebbles, and her knees were scraped and bleeding.

But she still smiled broadly, like the first flower to bloom in spring. She tilted her head back, looking at Belial with her bright, clear eyes, devoid of any fear or pretense. With her hands clasped together and on tiptoe, she expressed her gratitude to Belial in a childlike voice.

At that moment, her eyes were filled with the light of surviving a catastrophe—a clean, lively, and vibrant light—so bright that Beria turned his head away uncomfortably.

It was precisely because of this child's existence that Belial, despite already having some suspicions, insisted on returning to this planet to find substantial evidence.

But what did Beria see now?

In just the short time it took Belial to leave with Ken and then sneak back in, this little girl's life underwent a dramatic change!

Her hands and feet still retained a human-like appearance. From time to time, they would instinctively curl up and twitch due to the intense pain she was enduring.

But her face had been brutally slashed open, with six neat cuts running from the corner of her mouth to her earlobe. The edges of the cuts were smooth and of uniform length and width.

This is by no means the result of a violent beating. Rather, it looks more like the result of being meticulously cut open stroke by stroke by some extremely sharp instrument, according to a predetermined scale. It seems like preparatory work for some kind of subsequent modification.

Even the teeth in her mouth were all pulled out.

The blood streaks remaining on her gums slowly diffused in the nutrient solution that was soaking the girl's entire body to sustain her life and initially alter her constitution, like wisps of pale red smoke.

And those big, bright, and energetic eyes that had left such a deep impression on Belial were now just two dark, empty holes!

The skin around his eyes was wrinkled, like two crumpled pieces of paper.

Two lines of dark red liquid seeped from the cavity, leaving two thin red lines in the pale green culture medium, slowly flowing down the cheeks and all the way to the chin.

Then it is carried away by the fluid flow of the circulation system and reintegrated into that pale green turbidity.

This horrific scene caused Beria's mind to explode.

Only at this moment did Belial belatedly realize just how well the Land of Light had protected him...

So much so that even after ten thousand years, Belial, who thought he had prepared himself mentally and imagined the universe to be dangerous enough, ultimately forgot...

Compared to a more powerful enemy...

The most terrifying thing in the universe often comes from the darkness within the heart!

This caused Belial, who had gathered enough evidence and could have left, to have his self-disciplined rationality completely burned to ashes in that instant by a sudden surge of anger!

Before he could even think, his body moved faster than his brain, charging from his hiding place toward the metal door and throwing a right punch.

Ten thousand years of arduous training, the memory etched into the muscles, bypassed all thought processes, translating anger into the purest action, which erupted in full force at this moment!

The moment the fist slammed into the metal door, a deafening roar resounded. The seemingly indestructible metal door dented deeply inward from the point of impact, leaving a fist-shaped indentation. Cracks spread outward from the dent in all directions, like a spider web suddenly torn apart.

Then, with a powerful, furious blow, the entire door was ripped off the frame. The severely twisted and deformed metal plate flew deep into the laboratory, overturning a whole row of surgical instruments.

The sounds of shattering glassware, metal hitting the ground, and the hissing of gas leaking from broken pipes mingled together, echoing through the underground space.

Belial remained in his punching stance, standing rooted to the spot, metal shavings still clinging to his knuckles. His linen cloak billowed wildly in the aftershocks of the punch, the hood having long since slipped down, revealing a sullen, furious face that seemed to drip with rage.

Reason told him that this punch would be tantamount to blowing his infiltration mission to smithereens. It also signified that Belial had completely broken ties with the city's king and proactively sent a signal of war!

This undoubtedly violates the core ironclad rule of the Land of Light, which has always cherished peace and strictly prohibits the unauthorized attack on other planets.

This also means that Belial's actions at this moment, once reported back to the Land of Light, will surely result in severe punishment.

but……

Screw rationality!

There was no way he could just walk away quietly after seeing that thing, as if nothing had happened!

The image of the little girl kept appearing in my mind...

Those empty eye sockets, brimming with blood and tears, stared at him, rising and falling slightly in the culture medium, as if silently mocking him...

You came, and then what?

What kind of bullshit Ultraman warriors are these...

You can't even protect a child!

If the Ultra race, who have written the rule of "protecting humanity" into their underlying code, were to do this, who wouldn't be furious!

Not to mention that Belial is essentially a human being, and even after ten thousand years of trials, he has never abandoned his humanity!

Chapter 15 Life is like a play, all about acting skills

In Beria's view...

Justice delayed is justice denied and condoned! It will only breed more tragedies!

Therefore, they won't deceive themselves by saying nonsense like "Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent!"

He will tear that damned king to shreds with his own hands before more victims appear!

"You really came."

Of course, it was no surprise that Belial's punch that sent the iron gate flying and created such a commotion attracted the king's attention.

Even as Belial had just stepped into the area, the King's voice came slowly from the other end of the containment pod array.

His tone was no longer the frustrated and agitated grumbling he'd heard in the hallway, but rather one of smug confidence, as if everything was going according to plan.

He turned around and looked at Belial striding towards him. His face showed not a trace of surprise or astonishment at Belial's change in size. Instead, he tapped the floor lightly with his scepter, and like most classic villains, believing he had the upper hand, he began rambling on to Belial, prematurely delivering his "acceptance speech."

“I knew you were here the moment you sneaked into the castle. But if I had attacked you then, it would have been easy to scare you away and difficult to keep you here... But it’s different here.”

The moment the words fell, with the faint sound of mechanical gears turning, an alloy iron gate, even more solid and heavier than the metal gate that had been blasted away earlier, slammed down, blocking Belial's only escape route.

At the same time, an energy field, imperceptible to the naked eye, rapidly covered the area.

That was a specially developed device after several battles with the Ultra Warriors.

Once inside this force field area, the power of the Ultra Warriors' prized beam attacks will be greatly reduced! This will further weaken the Ultra Warriors' combat capabilities! And they will be unable to send out distress signals!

It is precisely because of this device that the King has captured countless Ultra Warriors over the years.

Upon witnessing the device successfully activate and Belial's complete impasse, the king's smile grew even wider and more smug. He continued to openly mock Belial's overestimation of his abilities, shaking his head and gesturing wildly.

"To be honest, I'm quite glad... glad that you and your kinsmen, like me, couldn't bear to see these lowly people being tortured, which is why you obediently stepped into my trap, just as I had anticipated. It just so happens that the blood of your kinsmen has been almost used up. In order for the next experiment to proceed smoothly, we need to use your blood to fill the gap."

His tone grew increasingly flippant, revealing the origin of the pale golden liquid injected into the monster's body.

The dark red gem at the top of the scepter also shone with an even brighter light as he moved. The frequency of its flashing was synchronized with the cores inside the chests of the monsters in the cultivation tank.

Before long, the nutrient solution in the surrounding isolation chambers began to drain out at an accelerated rate. The metal restraints inside the chambers automatically snapped open, freeing the modified bodies. As their consciousness gradually returned, they began to emit eerie roars.

Immediately afterwards, the transparent outer shells of these isolation chambers shattered all at the same moment. The pale green nutrient solution, which had not yet been completely drained, mixed with the fragments and poured out like a tidal wave.

Meanwhile, the modified monsters, under the control of the king's scepter, struggled to leap out of the isolation chambers. Dragging their not-yet-fully-healed wounds, they emitted low, twisted roars and converged on Belial from all directions.

There were more of them than the monsters that had previously besieged the city; at a glance, there were no fewer than twenty.

Some of them had grown to the size of sixty meters, clearly the king's trump card!

Although the others were slightly smaller, in the king's view, their numerical advantage was enough to easily crush Belial, this fool who had come to his death, just like before!

Belial, disregarding any chance to retort to the king, narrowed his eyes and, at a visible speed, his body swelled from life-size to giant form, his head almost touching the basement ceiling. In the process, he ripped off the linen cloak draped over his shoulders and tossed it aside.

Then, he exerted force with his feet and, before the monsters could successfully surround him, took the initiative to meet the modified monster that was closest to him!

A fierce battle erupted in this dark underground space!

Unfortunately, the underground space, though seemingly vast, was still too cramped for Beria.

Every time you throw a punch, you have to avoid the pipes and ventilation equipment overhead.

Each time you step back, you must be careful about the moment you land, to see if it will create a chain reaction that could accidentally injure the poor girl who is still clinging to life.

Unfortunately, these restrictions were completely outside the consideration of those modified monsters!

They were simply charging forward madly, one after another, wave after wave, under the king's control.

Belial had barely defeated one when two more immediately took its place!

Even if Belial risked injury to inflict damage on himself, he still managed to unleash a devastating attack that sent many enemies flying.

Before they could even catch their breath, another monster would viciously scratch and stab them in the back, causing them to let out a muffled roar of pain!

The monsters attacked by Belial seemed to know nothing of fear or pain. No matter how badly they were injured, they would struggle to get up from the ground and continue to charge at Belial.

Even if Belial hardened his heart and used his hand to cut off their limbs, they would still ignore their bleeding injuries and desperately crawl and climb on the ground, continuing to move towards Belial!

As a result, the situation quickly became one-sided over time.

Just as the king had guessed, in this confined space, facing more than twenty fearless modified monsters at the same time, and unable to use more powerful beam attacks, Belial quickly fell into a passive defensive posture and was forced into a losing position.

Worse still, the energy core installed on these modified monsters, besides providing them with immense power, could also be manually detonated remotely by the King. This was all to ruthlessly squeeze the last bit of value from the severely injured monsters, inflicting as much damage as possible on Belial!

This resulted in Belial, who was not wearing his training armor, quickly showing signs of injury.

His shoulder blade was ripped open by the claws of a four-legged monster, and light particles kept seeping out of the wound.

He was struck on the back by the tail of another monster, and the impact slammed him against the stone wall, causing the pipes on the wall to crack and spew out corrosive coolant.

Even so, Belial never went so far as to kill the monster before him.

Because he knew that these modified beings—whether monsters or humans trapped in containers—were all victims.

They are not the ones that truly deserve to die.

Out of the corner of his eye, he kept his eyes fixed on the king standing behind the monster horde.

The old man stood on the high metal platform, looking down at the scene of Belial being besieged, a smug smile on his lips.

Perhaps feeling that the situation was settled and convinced that the giant of light could not threaten him and would eventually fall to his monster army, the king spoke up triumphantly again.

"Even now, you still can't bring yourself to kill? What a noble spirit, warrior of the Land of Light! I'm almost moved to tears by you..."

"I must say, your performance was indeed stronger and lasted longer than those Warriors of Light I had encountered before. If the battle had taken place outside the castle, I would have had no way to stop you and would have had to watch you escape before calling in a large number of reinforcements to launch a counterattack."

"But you didn't. You were just as foolish as your companions, overconfident in your own abilities, and chose to walk into my trap... Your ridiculous sense of justice led you to make the wrong judgment and send you to your death."

As he spoke, the king strolled to the stone throne not far behind him, crossed his legs, and sat upright, watching Belial make his final, death throes with a languid expression, as if he were appreciating a spectacular gladiatorial performance.

"Of course, considering how hard you've tried to please me, I'll let you die knowing why..."

"You must be thinking that everyone on this planet is a two-faced scoundrel, right? Oh no, no, no, you really underestimate me... If the fools were too smart, it wouldn't be convenient for me to rule them, nor would it be easy to fool them. So their grateful expressions towards you are all true reflections of their innermost feelings."

He paused for a moment, then suddenly turned around with a smile and looked at the little girl he had tormented beyond recognition.

"Just like how they still believe that as long as they send their children into a castle, they can live a life of plenty... Thanks to them, I've collected a lot of high-quality materials, which is why I've been able to create so many adorable little babies~"

"Of course, to verify whether the product is up to standard, I definitely need to find real targets to test it... Wow, aren't there free live targets everywhere outside the castle? It can verify the product's reliability, and I can strike at the right time, playing the role of their 'guardian' to consolidate my rule. I can also occasionally act as bait, attracting fools like you to willingly come to my door, enriching my material library~"

Just then, Beria suddenly spoke up and questioned the king.

"...So, from beginning to end, it was all your doing, and it has nothing to do with the outsiders...They were just kept in the dark by you?"

"That's right, but even if you knew now, what could you do? You're already injured like this, do you still want to kill me? Hahahaha! Ha... What—?!"

At first, the king was stunned and couldn't understand how Belial, in his current state, would still have the time to listen to him and even ask him questions.

But soon, watching Belial, surrounded by monsters and unable to even fight back, crouching in defense with his head in his hands, the king realized he was overthinking things. He couldn't let Belial turn the tables, so he nodded in agreement and laughed triumphantly with his hands on his hips.

Unexpectedly, before the laughter could even fully escape his lips, the monsters that had been attacking Belial were suddenly bound by invisible ropes and froze in place.

At that moment, Belial, radiating a faint, divine silver light, stood up as if nothing had happened.

After gently pushing aside the monster blocking his path, he walked step by step toward the dumbfounded king.

This bizarre scene caused the king's smile to vanish quickly. He even instinctively began to repeatedly strike his scepter, attempting to unleash more monsters to protect himself.

Unexpectedly, the scepter flew out of his hand and landed directly in Belial's grasp. Then, right in front of the king, Belial crushed it to pieces!

Chapter 16 The Execution of Justice

"What...what have you done?"

This scene, completely unexpected, truly startled the king.

Facing Belial's cold, murderous gaze, he slumped onto his throne. His blustering questioning was punctuated by uncontrollable trembling in his legs; he lacked even the strength to stand and flee.

Clearly, what the king didn't know was...

The traps he set were indeed an unsolvable situation for the vast majority of the Giants of Light who were the same age as Belial...

Because they relied too much on light-based techniques, they neglected to develop their own physical strength.