With both Belial's Medal and Geed's Medal now in his possession, Z was, naturally, overjoyed.
He had never held a good impression of Belial in the past. Only now did his view finally begin to change.
As for Geed—
To Z, he was essentially an older brother and senior fellow disciple.
"By the way," Geed said, suddenly recalling something, "where's Zero? I heard you were chasing the Space Shark Beast together."
"Oh, my master was dragged into an interdimensional space," Z replied. "So he told me to come to Earth first and continue the pursuit."
"I see… but then why are Yuzhou here as well?"
Geed scratched his head and looked toward Yuzhou and Gai—no, Juggler.
"Well, you know me," Yuzhou shrugged. "I like wandering around."
Tiga's habit of roaming freely across the universe had long since spread throughout the Land of Light.
Although Geed did not live there, he had heard the rumours.
As for Juggler—
"I'm currently serving as the captain of this Earth Defense Force's STORAGE unit," Juggler said with a deliberately wicked smile.
"…Huh?"
Geed froze on the spot.
Juggler… a captain of Earth's defense forces?
It sounded utterly absurd.
"Don't believe me?"
Juggler chuckled, then turned to Z. "Ask him."
"Uh…" Z scratched his head. "From what Haruki said, STORAGE's captain is called Hebikura."
"Hebikura is me. I am Juggler."
Juggler nearly raised a hand to knock on Z's head, but considering Haruki was still inside him, he restrained himself.
"Captain… then what exactly are you?"
Haruki asked from within Z, clearly confused.
"Why do Tiga-senpai and Geed-senpai both know you?"
"I am—"
As Juggler spoke, black particles surged from his body, forming armour-like layers around him.
"Serpent Heart Style. Serpent Heart Sword."
"Jugglers Juggler!"
Transforming into his Dark Magin form, Juggler held the Serpent Heart Sword horizontally across his chest.
Z immediately assumed a combat stance in alarm.
But Juggler quickly reverted to normal.
These days, he rarely used his Dark Magin power. Before coming to Earth, he usually transformed directly into Tiga instead.
"Hey… what's that in the sky?"
Geed suddenly noticed something unusual above them.
A meteor was falling—straight toward their position.
It did not change direction.
With a sharp whoosh, it crashed down before them, sending debris and dust flying.
When the dust finally settled, a massive silver-red-and-blue giant stood before them.
A blue cape draped from his back.
It was Ultraman Zero—finally arriving.
"Oh?"
Zero looked around after landing.
"Looks like the battle's already over."
"Yeah, Zero," Yuzhou shouted from the ground.
"The protagonist always shows up last—just in time to be a bystander."
"Hey!"
Zero finally noticed the group below and exclaimed, "You're all here?!"
"So you only noticed us now?"
Yuzhou was briefly speechless.
He had assumed Zero landed here because he knew everyone was present.
Apparently not.
Which meant that if Zero had landed even slightly off—
Geed, Z, and the others might have been crushed on the spot.
"Sorry about that," Zero scratched his head apologetically.
"I didn't expect to see you here too, Riku… and Belial as well."
Given his close relationship with Geed, Zero naturally greeted him.
As for Belial—
There was no longer real hostility between them. In fact, there was now an odd layer of "friend's father" involved.
Still, meeting face-to-face always felt a little awkward.
"Zero," Geed called out, "Z said you were trapped in an interdimensional space. How did you get out?"
"Yeah, Master!"
Z asked eagerly. "How did you escape?"
"I struggled inside that space for quite some time," Zero replied.
"Once I realized brute force was useless, I used my Shining Power to reverse space-time and break free."
"I see…"
Geed nodded.
"Then Z—how did you perform on Earth?"
Though Zero had never formally acknowledged it, deep down he already considered Z his disciple.
"Did you recover the Medals?"
"Most of them," Z nodded.
"And I feel that fighting together with Haruki here on Earth has actually strengthened me."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Zero nodded thoughtfully.
"By the way—who's Haruki?"
"He's my partner," Z replied proudly.
"My one-and-only comrade, completely united with me."
"I see."
Zero nodded again, satisfied.
He then shrank down to human size and joined the group.
Since Zero lacked a permanent human host, this was the only way he could interact.
Although he could directly assume a human body like his father, Seven, he chose not to.
With so many familiar faces present, conversation quickly grew lively.
One person spoke after another.
So much so that Z's energy began to drop again.
Seeing this, Belial once more recharged him, restoring the Colour Timer from flashing red back to blue.
"Thank you, Belial-senpai!"
Z hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
Inside him, Haruki felt even more frustrated—
He desperately wanted to come out and join the conversation but couldn't.
The group chatted until evening, eventually deciding to have a proper dinner together on Earth.
At that moment, Geed's spaceship—Nebula House—arrived from the sky.
Laiha and Pega were aboard. They disembarked together, then cloaked Nebula House to hide it nearby.
Naturally, neither Zero nor Z could eat in Ultraman form.
Z cancelled his transformation, allowing Haruki to regain control of his body.
As for Zero—
With a flash of light, he transformed into a young, handsome man.
His appearance closely resembled a young Moroboshi Dan, though there were subtle differences.
He even wore glasses, deliberately imitating Leito's scholarly look.
Refined in appearance—
Yet possessing overwhelming combat power.
"Zero," Yuzhou said after observing him for a moment, "I didn't expect your human form to be this handsome."
"Of course," Zero laughed proudly.
"I'm Ultraman Zero—son of Ultraseven."