The Feel of Pounding Mochi

Among the vast ranks of monsters, the strength of Gronge ranks only in the lower-middle tier; due to the regenerative nature of its species, its own defensive skin is rendered somewhat useless.

Generally, if Gronge cannot win a fight, it will simply feign death, slowly recovering from its injuries before standing up once more.

Of course, this species of monster is exceptionally rare, as feigning death carries the risk of actually dying.

Most monsters can ignore the "scraping" lasers that would otherwise cause effective damage to it.

Standing before it now, however, is a super-powered warrior with the abilities of a "Dharma King."

The beam attack, which was only capable of damaging engines, caused Tiga to immediately activate his Power Type; the crimson, slightly bulky Tiga lunged forward with a punch.

Its fragile defense caused its head to cave in instantly, and under Tiga's blow, it became so disfigured that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it.

The soft, yielding sensation of the impact made Tiga feel as if he had struck a sponge; the texture, reminiscent of pounding rice cakes during the New Year, caused him to step back and distance himself to prepare for defense.

Yet, even after being beaten into such a ghastly state, Gronge counterattacked as if it had suffered no damage at all.

It opened its blood-red maw and fired a laser directly at Tiga's chest.

Crossing his arms to block in front of him, the laser attack left nothing but splashing sparks on Tiga's skin; Tiga did not even feel any pain.

Tiga slowly lowered his arms, looking at the Gronge before him with a somewhat dazed expression.

What a weakling.

However, Tiga did not hesitate; with a sliding step, he unleashed a heavy punch from his side, the immense force causing a massive air tremor around him.

Having already witnessed the power that could deform its own skull, Gronge understood from the changes in the surrounding environment that this was not an attack it could withstand.

Even though it understood this clearly, and despite desperately shifting its body, it still failed to dodge.

The heavy punch, wrapped in the force of a whirlwind, smashed into its shoulder; the fragile skin was ground away instantly, and flesh and blood were blasted outward.

The surrounding terrain shook, causing the entire body of the Gronge to tilt to one side.

However, a monster is still a beast; as it tilted, Gronge whipped its slender tail around.

The well-honed tail-whipping technique easily coiled around Tiga's throat, and bio-electricity surged through it.

Tiga felt his bones go numb and nearly collapsed to his knees. Seeing Tiga in a pinch, the Guts Wing 2 in the sky immediately organized an attack.

The heavy fighter jet, Guts Wing 2, quickly launched two missiles. The missiles exploded the moment they touched Gronge's body, and the intense blast and burning flames caused Gronge to let out a painful wail.

At this moment, Gronge ceased its bio-electricity, and Power Type Tiga grabbed its tail firmly.

Tiga's muscles tensed, and with a violent tug, he tore Gronge's tail clean off.

Casually tossing the tail aside, he drew a circle with his hands upward, kneading a red Rasengan in front of his Color Timer.

Delacium Light Stream!

The ball of light was thrown like a baseball by Tiga; it tore a massive hole through Gronge's chest before slamming into the mountain forest.

"BOOM!"

Gronge and the forest exploded simultaneously, and the splashing sparks instantly ignited the dry woods. Tiga remained frozen in his throwing pose.

Watching the spreading forest fire, he panicked and began his work as a firefighter with an Ultra Water Gun.

He hadn't flashed his red warning light while fighting the monster, but the time spent putting out the fire caused Tiga's light to begin blinking.

The flames gradually died down, and black smoke rose everywhere, but at least the source of the fire had been completely extinguished. Tiga nodded slowly, then traced a graceful arc with his hands as he flew off.

Watching Tiga fly away, Zhou Hong's fists clenched; he felt he should find Daigo for a good sparring session.

Not because he was almost caught in the crossfire, nor because he was drenched and looked like a drowned rat, but simply because he wanted Daigo to grow faster.

"No matter how many times I see it, the Giant of Light is truly reliable." Hibiki Gousuke let go of the tree he had been hugging, hands on his hips in a display of feigned composure. "As long as Ultraman appears, the monster will be dealt with."

"The name 'Giant of Light' already implies that he is still within the realm of humanity. As long as one is human, one will fail, and one will die," Zhou Hong said flatly. "The Giant of Light is no exception."

"You're right. We must also work harder so we don't hold them back." Hibiki Gousuke clenched his fists tightly, his entire being seemingly ignited.

"That is why we fight the monsters with all our might," Newt's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Yo, I'm Shinjoh from GUTS. You must be Hibiki Gousuke and Zhou Hong, right? We really owe you for buying us time this time."

Hibiki Gousuke stood straight. "It is what we should do."

"By the way," Shinjoh scratched his head in distress, "two Guts Wing 1s were destroyed this time. The repair work is enough to make me collapse. You guys..."

"Captain, the fighter jets are broken. Since that's the case, let's continue with physical training," Zhou Hong's voice drowned out Shinjoh's.

"Yosh! Since flight training is over, let's start physical training immediately."

"Let's make the nearest TPC outpost the finish line. Start running!"

The two of them ignored Shinjoh with loud voices, stepping onto the muddy ground and beginning to move at a slow jog.

Shinjoh looked around, and seeing no one else, he figured he could keep up, so he hurriedly followed the two.

However, once they cleared the area sprayed by Tiga's Ultra Water Gun, the two men's speed increased instantly. Even though Shinjoh chased with all his might, he could only see their backs.

"Cough, cough... are these two really that fit?" Shinjoh held his lower back, breathing heavily. "GUTS is so short-handed; I really hope the Captain can be effective enough to pull these two into GUTS."

Participating in patrols, repairing Guts Wing 1s, shooting practice, and sleeping at home on his days off—his occasional physical training only served to maintain a baseline level of fitness.

Facing these two beasts, the disadvantage became immediately apparent.

"Hey! Shinjoh, where did you run off to?"

"Hurry back and repair the GUTS Wing 1!" Daigo's voice echoed inside the helmet, making Shinjoh's head buzz.

I want to run, but I can't~~

"Understood, I'm on my way."

Shinjoh helplessly clutched his aching lower back as he walked toward the GUTS Wing 1; for a veteran ace pilot, repairing aircraft had already become a mastered skill.

There's a lot going on during the holidays, so updates have been sluggish, but I'm still asking for your votes.