After leaving the cavern, Yuzare's heart felt unbearably heavy.
Guardie had turned into stone right before her eyes—and she had been utterly powerless to stop it.
If she returned to the Moon, she did not know how she would explain this to Cain.
"Is darkness really going to destroy the Earth like this…?"
Yuzare gazed up at the sky, now completely swallowed by darkness, her thoughts sinking into turmoil.
She had purified the stains within her own Heart of Light before. Because of that, Yuzare firmly believed that darkness could, in theory, be transformed into light.
But to turn that world-destroying dark colossus into light… even she knew how unrealistic that sounded.
Still, Guardie had already broken precedent by becoming a Giant Beast of Light. If that was possible, then perhaps—just perhaps—there was another way.
Yet judging by the current situation, only one solution remained:
destroy the Ruler of Darkness, and restore light to the Earth.
Turning the Dark Beast into light itself was nothing more than a fantasy.
This world no longer had any Giants of Light.
And among the Giants of Darkness, only four remained—
Tiga, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb, all sealed within the Dark Temple.
"…Perhaps I should try."
The airships sent from the Moon to retrieve Yuzare soon arrived, along with escort fighters.
After learning that Yuzare had been attacked by Gijera, Cain personally piloted a ship and led the squadron back to Earth.
When he saw that Yuzare was safe, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hm?"
After landing, Cain quickly noticed something was wrong.
"There's no sign of Guardie… Sister, where is Guardie?"
"Guardie…"
Yuzare sighed and shook her head.
"Wait—this place is…!"
Cain suddenly realized where they were.
This was the very spot where he had hidden his Giant's body before!
The cave in the cliff wall—
it was the one he had personally ordered Guardie to dig!
With a heavy, anxious heart, Cain rushed into the cavern.
Soon, two stone statues came into view.
One was his own.
The other was Guardie's.
"Guardie…"
Standing before Guardie's statue, Cain placed a hand against its petrified leg, his voice trembling.
"Cain, don't be too sad," Yuzare said softly from behind him.
"At the very end, I infused Guardie with a beam of light. If fortune favours us, it may recover gradually… within the long river of time."
"My Light could only do that much."
"How long will it take?" Cain asked, turning to her.
"At the very least, thousands of years," Yuzare replied after a pause.
"At most… tens of thousands."
She could not give a precise answer—but it was enough to give Cain hope.
"Tens of thousands of years…"
Cain looked up at Guardie's statue.
"Guardie. Wait for me."
"Before Guardie awakens, let this light protect them."
After some thought, Yuzare released her Light, enveloping both Cain's and Guardie's statues.
A radiant, golden pyramid formed around them.
After leaving the cave, the two sealed the entrance completely, adding one final layer of protection.
Then Yuzare told Cain of her intention—to go alone into the Domain of Darkness, while Cain returned to the Moon to coordinate the survivors.
Cain did not know what Yuzare intended to do, but he trusted his sister's judgment.
Leaving behind one ship for her, Cain led the others back to the Moon.
Darkness covered both land and sky.
Alone, Yuzare piloted her airship cautiously through the air.
Lightning occasionally tore down from the pitch-black clouds. She had no intention of being struck down before even reaching her destination.
The sea near R'lyeh was no longer an option.
Although it provided the fastest route to the abyss of the Dark Domain, the Ruler of Darkness was rampaging there—it was impossible to approach.
Instead, Yuzare headed for the Dark Island of the Extreme South.
Upon arrival, she was surprised to discover that although black mist covered the entire world, this island remained untouched.
Even Gijera had not bloomed here.
"Is this because of Tiga…?"
Murmuring to herself, Yuzare entered the Dark Domain from the island.
Cain had already told her the routes to the temple.
One path lay beneath the sea of R'lyeh—the fastest, but now unusable.
The other led across the wastelands, down into the abyss, and onward to the temple.
Slower—but viable.
"Tiga… can you truly become light?"
Yuzare's goal was singular:
to turn a Dark Giant into humanity's ally.
Even when Tiga had once been a Giant of Darkness, he had protected humanity, destroying monsters that invaded their cities.
If she could erase the influence of darkness from him, then even without fully becoming a Giant of Light, Tiga could still become humanity's greatest hope.
The airship landed before the temple gates.
The sheer grandeur of the Dark Temple left Yuzare momentarily awed.
Seeing it through recordings was one thing—standing before it in person was entirely different.
Without hesitation, she entered.
Her pace was swift.
Ancient reliefs lined the temple corridors. In another time, she would have studied them carefully.
But now, nothing mattered more than bringing Tiga back.
She soon reached the main hall.
Passing through an invisible barrier, Yuzare stepped inside.
Seated upon a pitch-black throne were Tiga and Camearra.
To either side stood Hudra and Darramb.
A sudden blast exploded before Yuzare with a sharp crack, forcing her to halt.
"Woman," Camearra said coldly, staring at her, "why have you come here?"
"Tiga. Camearra. It's been a long time," Yuzare replied calmly, instead greeting them.
"And Hudra, Darramb—it's been a while for you as well."
"We just fought a great battle," Hudra sneered.
"How is that 'a long time'?"
"That was merely your avatars," Yuzare said, shaking her head.
"Your true bodies were sealed here and could not leave. Am I wrong?"
"So, what if we couldn't leave?" Darramb snorted.
"The Earth's already been destroyed, hasn't it? If we had acted, Gatanozoa wouldn't even have had a chance."
"Gatanozoa…"
"So that is the name of the so-called Ruler of Darkness."
Yuzare nodded slightly.
"The Ruler of Darkness?"
Tiga's voice echoed faintly, though his consciousness had not yet fully awakened.
"Is it even worthy of that title?"
Indeed.
Before Tiga, Gatanozoa was nothing.
Even Cthulhu had been driven off.
If not for the seal binding him to the temple, Gatanozoa would have already been reduced to ashes.