Although Musashi was known as Ultraman Cosmos' human host, the two had long since become virtually one entity, no longer truly separate.
From the ground, Musashi merely observed Queen Amate's actions.
There was no sign of him transforming.
"Forget Cosmos for now," Yuzhou said calmly to himself.
"My purpose here is to save Mikoto."
His gaze shifted to the battlefield where humans clashed with the smaller Bezelb units.
Among the chaos, he spotted a familiar figure.
Juggler.
This was Juggler of this timeline—not the one who knew Yuzhou.
At this point in time, Juggler had yet to fall into demonic corruption.
After all, Mikoto was still alive.
On the battlefield, Juggler swung the Serpent Heart Sword, cutting down Bezelbs one after another.
It had to be said—his swordsmanship was exceptional.
Even in a purely human form, he was able to slay numerous monsters.
Yet no matter how strong he was, the sheer number of Bezelbs was overwhelming.
Relying solely on the native army and Juggler made victory nearly impossible.
Yuzhou retrieved his flying platform from his spatial ring, preparing to descend into the battlefield—
When suddenly, a scream rang out.
Queen Amate, transformed into the Warrior Goddess, cried out in pain.
Everyone turned toward her in shock.
Behind the Warrior Goddess, a Bezelb's sharp stinger had pierced straight through her back.
"Your Majesty!"
"Queen Amate!"
Cries of disbelief echoed across the battlefield.
The Warrior Goddess—ambushed?!
A crimson glow spread from the stinger, and Queen Amate clutched her head as intense pain overtook her.
Moments later, her eyes turned blood-red.
She had been taken under the control of Queen Bezelb, the Bezelb leader.
"Your Majesty, stay strong!"
Orb shouted while fighting a red-eyed monster.
"Don't lose yourself!"
With that, Orb kicked the monster away and launched an Eight-Split Light Wheel at the stinger.
Crack!
The stinger shattered in a spray of sparks.
However, even after breaking, it remained lodged in Queen Amate's back.
Only when she collapsed did it finally fall free.
Orb rushed toward her at once.
Dyna kicked aside his opponent and charged forward as well.
But just as they drew close, a dark-red shockwave erupted from Queen Amate's body, blasting both Ultras away and sending them crashing to the ground.
Queen Amate rose once more, gathering immense energy—aimed directly at the residential area.
At that moment, Musashi ran toward her.
"So the warm-up's over," Yuzhou muttered, shaking his head.
Stepping onto his flying platform, he descended rapidly.
A flash of blue light appeared before Queen Amate.
Ultraman Cosmos.
Cosmos immediately deployed a barrier in front of the residential zone.
Queen Amate's attack struck the shield, detonating in a violent explosion.
Despite the intensity, Cosmos successfully held it back.
The two soon engaged in battle.
"Get the Queen to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life!"
"That's the only thing that can neutralize the puppet toxin!"
The people on the ground finally realized what had to be done and turned their eyes toward the towering Tree of Life, stretching into the heavens.
Juggler and the others reacted instantly and rushed toward it.
One by one, they were trapped by swarms of small Bezelbs—
Until only Juggler and Mikoto remained.
Juggler sprinted to the base of the Tree of Life, looked up, and hurled the Serpent Heart Sword upward with all his strength.
The moment the sword left his hand—
He froze.
Because someone was falling from the sky.
"What the hell?!"
Yuzhou had been hovering on his flying platform when he suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet.
The platform split in two.
And he dropped straight down.
"Where did this guy come from?!"
Juggler exclaimed.
Although the Serpent Heart Sword successfully sliced off a Tree of Life fruit, Juggler frowned—and chose to save the falling person instead.
"Get my sword!" he shouted to Mikoto.
With a powerful push off the ground, Juggler leapt upward, briefly taking flight.
He caught Yuzhou midair and descended safely to the ground.
Yuzhou was speechless.
He genuinely hadn't expected Juggler to jump up and catch him like that.
Calmly slipping the transformation device back into his coat, Yuzhou allowed himself to be set down.
Meanwhile, the fallen Tree of Life fruit vanished among the dense, massive roots below.
"Damn it!"
Once on the ground, Juggler clenched his fist and slammed it against his thigh.
Regret filled his face—for choosing a life over the fruit.
"Young Juggler," Yuzhou suddenly said.
"Did you drop this small Tree of Life fruit?"
"Or this medium one?"
"Or perhaps this large one?"
As Juggler stood there cursing himself, Yuzhou produced three Tree of Life fruits, laying them out before him one by one.
"These…"
Juggler stared at the glowing fruits, completely at a loss for words.
"Give me one first—we'll talk later!"
He grabbed a fruit and sprinted toward Queen Amate.
Dyna was holding off two red-eyed monsters on his own.
Cosmos and Orb were restraining Queen Amate together, barely keeping her under control.
"Gai!"
Juggler shouted from the hilltop, raising the glowing fruit.
"Shoot the seed into the Queen's body!"
"…?!"
Yuzhou froze.
"Did I misunderstand something?"
Whether he did or not—Orb certainly didn't.
Juggler hurled the fruit skyward.
Orb rushed forward, caught it midair, and formed a spear of light in his hand.
Without hesitation, he thrust it toward Queen Amate's head.
Shrrk!
The spear of light entered her body like a dragon diving into the sea, instantly purging the toxin within.
Her eyes returned to their original colour.
As consciousness returned, Queen Amate looked utterly bewildered.
Seeing that the Tree of Life fruit had worked, Juggler ran back in excitement.
Yuzhou remained where he was and waved at him.
Juggler ignored him completely.
Instead, he shouted to Mikoto, who was running up the hill:
"It worked! Hey—We did it!"
"As expected of my master!"
Mikoto said excitedly, holding the Serpent Heart Sword as she reached the hillside.
At that moment—
A small Bezelb suddenly lunged from behind her.
Mikoto's eyes narrowed, her expression turning razor-sharp.
Gripping Juggler's sword, she prepared to fight.