"Well said!"
Upon hearing Haruki's words, Z almost felt as though he were the human host.
However, Z's attention was quickly drawn to the Lance Arrow embedded nearby.
For reasons unknown, the weapon seemed to respond to Haruki's resolute, will-driven declaration—it shimmered briefly, emitting a faint glow.
"A spear of light that fell from the heavens?"
Haruki looked toward the Lance Arrow in confusion, unable to understand why it had reacted.
"It is a gift left to us by the Ultramen of ancient times!"
Z said as he rushed toward the weapon and firmly grasped its handle.
At that very moment, Zeppandon began charging its finishing attack, clearly intending to deliver a final blow to Z.
After seizing the Lance Arrow, Z pulled the front handle three times.
Three light bullets shot straight into the sky.
Z: "..."
"Wrong way—again!"
Z pulled the front handle three more times. This time, a massive blue energy bow formed at the front of the weapon.
Aiming the glowing blue bow directly at Zeppandon, Z released an icy arrow without hesitation.
Z's Ice Arrow!
The enormous frozen arrow collided midair with the massive fireball launched by Zeppandon.
Blazing heat and extreme cold intertwined violently, clashing in a spectacular stalemate.
However, after a brief struggle, Z—who had awakened the power of will—gained the upper hand.
The icy arrow pierced straight through the deliberately restrained Zeppandon.
The hit landed cleanly.
Zeppandon was instantly encased in ice from head to toe, turning into a colossal frozen sculpture—then shattered explosively.
Encased in ice, its body broke apart into countless fragments that scattered across the ground.
"…Juggler isn't really gone, is he?"
Seeing this, Yuzhou felt a slight sense of unease.
Although Juggler survived in the original storyline, Yuzhou was now personally within the narrative.
Changes were inevitable.
It was entirely possible that, due to his interference, Juggler had been erased by Z right here.
Just then, a streak of dark light escaped from the explosion site and streaked toward Yuzhou, landing beside him.
The dark light transformed into Juggler, who staggered forward and nearly collapsed onto Yuzhou.
"Damn it—Juggler, are you okay?"
Yuzhou quickly supported him and asked.
Juggler's face was covered in red blotches, clearly showing signs of having taken a beating.
"I'm fine," Juggler waved his hand dismissively.
"I just haven't exercised in too long. Thought I'd stretch a little."
"You really are something…"
Yuzhou shook his head, speechless.
On the surface, it looked like Juggler had acted on impulse.
In reality, he had risked himself purely to train Haruki.
Juggler truly lived up to his reputation—willing to "risk his life" for his subordinates.
"Oh, right."
Yuzhou suddenly slapped his forehead, retrieved a short rod from his spatial bracelet, and handed it to Juggler.
"Take this. I've got plenty—whole bunch of them."
"…Huh?"
For once, the usually composed Juggler sounded genuinely confused.
"Isn't this the same crossbow Haruki just used?"
The weapon Haruki wielded had originally been a sealed short rod from ancient times.
Juggler knew about it.
It had been excavated as an antique—no one expected it to be a weapon.
But now Yuzhou was saying he had many of them?
A whole pile?
"Do you run a weapons wholesale business or something?"
Juggler stared blankly at the rod in his hand.
"Well… remember when we fought Gillvalis?"
Yuzhou replied.
"I went back several thousand years to Planet Kushia and… secured their armoury."
"…Secured?"
Juggler fell silent.
'Secured,' my ass.
At least let me 'secure' something next time.
"No matter what," Juggler finally said, smiling as he put the short rod away, "thank you, Yuzhou."
In the past, hearing Juggler thank someone would have been nearly impossible.
But now—though still unmistakably Juggler—he was far more grounded than before.
"By the way," Yuzhou asked casually, "where's Gai?"
"No idea," Juggler shook his head.
"He's a drifter. Probably wandering somewhere."
...
After parting ways with Juggler, Yuzhou checked into a hotel.
His newly purchased house had already been destroyed by Peguila.
Finding another place would be a hassle.
Why bother, when he could stay indefinitely in a five-star hotel's presidential suite?
It was perfect—until a certain presence returned.
Gillvalis.
The very enemy Yuzhou had once destroyed.
"So this is Gillvalis's true form…"
Inside STORAGE's command centre, Juggler had just stepped out of the restroom when alarms began blaring.
The main screen automatically displayed footage of Gillvalis rampaging through the Special Airborne Armor testing grounds.
Now fully transformed, Gillvalis resembled a colossal steel behemoth.
Countless cannons were embedded across its back, each capable of firing shells infused with devastating power.
"As expected… it really has been revived,"
Yuzhou muttered while watching the live broadcast from his hotel room.
Back in the Geed universe, Yuzhou had dismantled Gillvalis before it could complete its transformation.
This time, however, Gillvalis appeared directly in its fully evolved state.
The force responsible for its revival was none other than Belial's 'Devil Splinters'—Belial's own cells.
"This is ridiculous," Yuzhou scoffed.
"If Belial's cells were really this overpowered, we might as well ask Geed to donate some blood next time."
The broadcast showed the battle unfolding at the testing site.
Haruki and Yoko were piloting Sevenger and Windom, respectively.
Gillvalis descended from the sky without warning, shocking both pilots.
On the ground, the STORAGE crew monitoring the combat data were equally stunned.
"This massive unknown mechanical life-form…"
Yuka said rapidly, "…it possesses extremely advanced artificial intelligence!"
Meanwhile, Gillvalis fired a single blast, sending Sevenger and Windom flying.
Another alarm rang out over the broadcast.
"Unknown life-form approaching Earth at extreme speed!!!"
"Another one?!"
Yuka frowned deeply.
"No," Juggler said from the command centre, staring at the display, "two of them."
Two massive heat signatures were racing toward Earth.
Moments later, two beams of light slammed into the testing grounds, landing squarely between Gillvalis and the battered Sevenger and Windom.
Dust and debris erupted skyward.
As the dust slowly settled and the light faded, two figures emerged from the impact site.