"Tiga… making this decision must weigh heavily on your heart as well."
Yuzare shook her head slowly, her gaze fixed on Yu Zhou as he sealed the three figures away. Her emotions were tangled and conflicted.
"Let's go. There's no need to say more."
Yu Zhou turned around. He could not bear to look at the petrified forms of Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb—now reduced to ordinary human-sized stone statues—and walked toward the exit of the dark temple.
Yuzare had no choice but to follow behind him.
Once outside the temple gates, Yu Zhou wasted no time. He rose into the air, preparing to fly upward beyond the abyss and leave the Dark Domain altogether.
Yuzare boarded her spacecraft as well, intending to depart alongside him.
Suddenly, Yu Zhou sensed an abnormal fluctuation—far away, nearly a thousand li beyond the abyss, in a desolate wasteland. He immediately altered his course and headed toward the disturbance.
Though Yuzare did not know the reason, she followed and redirected her ship toward the wasteland.
Before long, Yu Zhou arrived at the scene.
On the barren plains below, two men were fighting a monster, light energy surging from their hands as they launched coordinated attacks.
Despite their vastly smaller size compared to the kaiju, their movements were agile and precise, their control over light remarkably refined. To an astonishing degree, they were actually gaining the upper hand in the battle.
Yu Zhou had no intention of spectating.
He raised both arms into an L-shaped stance and instantly fired a simplified Zeperion Ray, striking the monster directly.
Boom!
Under the stunned gazes of the two men, the monster erupted in a brilliant explosion.
"…That's not right. I hadn't even gone all out yet. Why did it just explode?"
One of the men scratched his head, completely baffled.
"Look—look at the sky!"
The other man noticed Yu Zhou hovering above them and shouted urgently.
"That is… Tiga?!"
The two cried out in disbelief.
Clearly, they had seen Tiga before.
But the Tiga they remembered bore silver-and-black coloration. The giant before them, however, was clad in silver, red, and purple, with golden patterns across his chest.
The form was the same—yet undeniably different.
Confusion filled their expressions.
Yuzare soon arrived and landed her spacecraft nearby.
Yu Zhou descended slowly, looking down at the two men before speaking calmly:
"Achilles. Herau. Why are you here?"
"It really is Tiga?!"
Hearing their names spoken aloud, both men froze.
These two were none other than Achilles and Herau, long missing members of the Earth Defense Force. After failing to transform into Giants of Light, they had left Earth in search of another path.
Over the course of their long journey, they discovered that although their Hearts of Light still existed, they had been tainted. That corruption originated from the moment they were expelled from the Dark Temple by the Dark King—their Hearts of Light had been stained by darkness.
The two retreated into the mountains, living in seclusion to cultivate themselves. Through persistent effort, they purified the darkness from their Hearts of Light and learned—through trial and intuition—how to draw upon and wield light energy.
Later, when Gijera bloomed across the mountains, the two sensed something was terribly wrong and descended into the world again.
What they found was absolute darkness.
Humans holding Gijera flowers died with blissful smiles upon their faces. Cities, roads, and lands everywhere were littered with corpses.
When they returned to the Central Capital, the royal city lay in ruins, completely abandoned.
From this, Achilles and Herau deduced that everything was connected to the Dark Domain—and thus they came here to seek answers.
And they had remained until now.
"Achilles… Herau?"
Yuzare stepped out of the spacecraft, visibly shocked when she recognized them.
They had disappeared without a word for so long—she never expected to meet them again under such circumstances.
"Captain!"
The two were equally astonished upon seeing her. Then they noticed something else.
"Captain—your hair!"
"I'm fine," Yuzare replied calmly. "But you two—why are you here?"
Achilles and Herau explained everything that had happened after they left the Defense Force, recounting their journey and discoveries in detail.
Only then did Yuzare fully understand: like her, their Hearts of Light had been flawed.
The difference was that their corruption came from Cthulhu's influence, whereas her own stain had been born from within.
"Captain, let us become Giants of Light!" Herau stepped forward, striking his chest firmly. "We will definitely drive back the darkness!"
"Exactly," Achilles added. "Our Hearts of Light are no longer corrupted!"
But Yuzare let out a soft sigh and explained the current situation.
The survivors had already fled to the Moon Base.
The Plasma Spark and the Light Particle Converter were gone.
There was no longer a path for humanity to become Giants of Light.
"So… there's really no way anymore?"
Herau and Achilles grew despondent.
After striving for so long, they were still unable to obtain the power needed to repel the darkness.
More importantly—was Earth, and all of humanity, truly doomed?
"Achilles. Herau."
Just as their spirits faltered, Yu Zhou spoke.
"Are you truly willing to become Giants of Light?"
"Yes—of course!" Herau replied without hesitation.
"If possible," Achilles said firmly, "I want the power to protect everyone."
As former members of the Earth Defense Force, the resolve within them reminded Yu Zhou of the Victory Team from a distant future.
"In that case—"
Yu Zhou swept his arm outward.
Two enormous stone statues emerged from the wasteland.
At the same time, a Light Particle Converter, radiating four beams of light, appeared before them.
"This is—?!"
Achilles and Herau stood frozen in shock.
Even Yuzare was stunned.
"Stone statues of Giants of Light…!"
She had only ever heard of such things from Tiga's words—never had she seen them with her own eyes.
And now, two of them stood here.
Even more shocking was the original Light Particle Converter—the true key that allowed humans to become light.
"Step onto it," Yu Zhou said calmly. "Let the statues awaken."
"Understood!"
Overcome with emotion, Achilles and Herau exchanged a glance before stepping onto the centre of the converter.
They never imagined such an opportunity still existed.
What astonished them most was the familiarity they felt toward the statues—as if those colossal forms were extensions of themselves, long separated.
Light particles flowed from the crystal on Yu Zhou's forehead. He guided them into the main apparatus of the converter.
The light condensed.
It took shape.
A Sparklence was born.