"Who are you?"
Yu Zhou voiced his confusion as he looked at this so-called "Dyna."
"Oh, right—I'm Anmon. I don't know if you still remember me. I was once the lord of Fuhuo City."
"When we first met, you even saved my life."
The "Dyna" quickly explained his identity, his voice filled with unmistakable joy.
"So it really is Anmon…"
Yu Zhou was genuinely surprised.
He had never expected that the very first person he encountered who could wield the power of light… would turn out to be Dyna himself.
At that moment, Achilles and Herau also joined the battle. After briefly greeting Anmon, they immediately charged toward Gatanozoa.
Nearby, Yuzare, piloting the spacecraft, finally learned the identity of this suddenly appearing Giant of Light—and was just as astonished as Yu Zhou.
She was well aware of everyone who had undergone transformation through the Light Particle Converter.
The fact that Anmon had secretly become a Giant of Light could only mean one thing—Keshiva had opened a backdoor for him. After all, the activation device for the Light Particle Converter had always been in Keshiva's possession.
When she first heard rumors of a "wild" Giant of Light appearing on Earth, Yuzare had no idea who it was.
Now, she finally understood.
"No time for talk—let's fight!"
After only a brief exchange, Yu Zhou and Anmon both rushed toward Gatanozoa.
To be honest, dealing with Gatanozoa at this point did not require much effort at all.
While Achilles and Herau were still punching and kicking Gatanozoa's countless tentacles, Yu Zhou charged straight in and slammed a heavy punch into the monster's massive shell.
Crash!
Gatanozoa was flipped over once again, its underside exposed.
Yu Zhou had originally intended to strike the unarmoured bottom—just as in the future.
But the moment he saw it clearly, he froze.
Unlike the Gatanozoa of later eras, the underside of this one was also covered in the same pitch-black, hardened armour as its back.
"That shouldn't be possible…"
Though puzzled, Yu Zhou did not hesitate.
Seizing the opportunity, he unleashed a rapid barrage of punches against Gatanozoa's underside.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each punch landed squarely on the armoured base. Yu Zhou felt no pain at all.
Gatanozoa, however, let out an agonized roar—an ear-splitting sound like an elephant's trumpet mixed with a raging bull's bellow.
The deafening noise made even Yuzare's head spin. She hurriedly used her power of light to block her hearing.
Crack… crack…
Soon, the sound of fracturing echoed across the sea.
Under Yu Zhou's relentless assault, spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly across Gatanozoa's underside armour.
Then—
The armour shattered.
Chunks of black shell broke apart and fell into the ocean below.
"What terrifying power…!"
Anmon could not help but exclaim in awe.
In truth, even fighting the Ruler of Darkness himself had pushed Anmon to his limits—he had barely managed to hold his own.
Had Tiga and the others not arrived in time, he would have already been overwhelmed… perhaps even killed.
"What a brutal offense!"
Herau was equally shaken.
After becoming a Giant of Light, he could clearly feel how powerful he had become—especially given his proficiency in close combat.
Yet Gatanozoa's defense was something he had personally experienced moments ago.
No matter how he attacked, it would not budge—let alone crack its shell.
But Tiga had done it.
As Gatanozoa slammed its underside back into the sea, fear finally took root within it.
Too terrifying.
This was an enemy it could never defeat.
If the Dark King were present, perhaps there might still be a chance.
But the Dark King was sealed within the temple, and the other dark kin had yet to arrive on Earth.
Gatanozoa realized it was utterly alone.
Retreat!
That single thought dominated its mind.
Its once-proud defense had been shattered in moments—if the battle continued, it would surely die.
Dense black fog erupted from Gatanozoa's body. Seeing this, everyone instinctively pulled back.
But what no one expected—
Was that Gatanozoa transformed entirely into black mist and shot straight toward R'lyeh.
Yu Zhou: "..."
He was speechless.
Truly speechless.
He had never imagined Gatanozoa would actually run away.
Was this a joke…?
"Chase!"
Yu Zhou uttered a single word and immediately took the lead, flying toward R'lyeh.
Hovering above the island, he looked down upon it from the sky.
R'lyeh had already suffered devastation from the clash between Giants of Light and Giants of Darkness—and then endured Gatanozoa's corruption.
The island was now utterly ruined.
Thick black fog drifted across its surface. Yu Zhou's eyes glowed even brighter as he scanned the area—but he could not discern anything unusual.
"Can't find it?"
Anmon, Achilles, and Herau soon arrived and searched from above as well, but Gatanozoa was nowhere to be found.
"If we can't locate it," Yuzare suggested from within the spacecraft,
"then perhaps we should seal R'lyeh itself."
Destroying the island entirely was certainly possible—but Yu Zhou would never choose that option.
A seal, however, could prevent the darkness from spreading across the world.
"…Alright. Let's seal it."
Yu Zhou had little interest in continuing to chase Gatanozoa. Returning to the future as soon as possible was far more important.
With a single thought, his entire body erupted with light.
Golden particles poured out from him and, under his control, wove themselves into a vast, all-encompassing net that enveloped the whole of R'lyeh.
Instantly, the darkness covering the island was suppressed—erased under the radiance.
The darkness of R'lyeh was sealed completely.
"That should do it."
Yu Zhou nodded to himself.
At that moment, darkness across the world began to recede.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and shone down upon the Earth once more.
Just as Anmon was about to sigh in relief—
The sky darkened again.
"What's happening?"
Achilles stared at the suddenly blackened heavens, tension rising.
"Wasn't the Ruler of Darkness just sealed? Why is the sky—"
Before Herau could finish speaking, a colossal monster burst through the clouds and descended before them.
A one-eyed behemoth.
Countless tentacles writhed from its head, so numerous they resembled thick, tangled hair.
Its overall shape was grotesque—resembling a massive toad… or a frog.
"This is no frog."
Yu Zhou spoke calmly as he watched the monster descend.
"It's another Outer God. Another Ruler of Darkness."
"A dark kin of Cthulhu."
"…Ythogtha."