"Hey, Hong! Look out ahead!" Hibiki Gousuke called out, now fully alert.
On the radar and in their field of vision, a black cloud was closing in on the Jet VTOL 1 like a hunting predator.
Zhou Hong yanked the control stick, sending the Jet VTOL 1 straight upward. The cloud followed close behind.
He turned toward headquarters and sped off, but the cloud stayed right on their tail.
The distance between them was slowly shrinking. The Jet VTOL 1's engines were already pushed to their limit, but they still couldn't shake it.
"I'd love to leave the rest of the work to you, but things aren't looking too good right now," Zhou Hong said with a faint smile, as if the danger didn't bother him in the slightest.
Megumi Iruma certainly didn't see it that way. "Daigo and Shinjoh are already on their way."
But as soon as she finished speaking, the communications system failed.
Conventional fighter jets were often equipped with countermeasures such as flares to deal with enemies on their tail. But the unconventional, lightweight Jet VTOL 1 had nothing of the sort.
Every time Hibiki Gousuke glanced at the radar, the distance between the eerie cloud and the Jet VTOL 1 had shrunk a little more. He couldn't help but feel his heart pounding.
"The communications system is down. If that black cloud gets any closer, our jet could lose control too."
Zhou Hong calmly gave Hibiki Gousuke, sitting in front of him, a quick chop to the neck.
The hand chop he'd learned through Joneus's relentless training didn't cause Hibiki Gousuke even the slightest pain.
In an instant, it knocked Hibiki Gousuke unconscious without injuring him.
"Captain, beating you guys up every day gets boring." After checking the fuel level again, Zhou Hong casually switched on the jet's autopilot.
He looked back at the black cloud behind them. A crimson glow shimmered around the Ultra Heart. "Let's test this out on Gazort."
A crimson ball of light interposed itself between the cloud and the Jet VTOL 1. Its outstretched fingers clenched into a fist wrapped in crimson flames.
With a single bang, it slammed into the black cloud.
Though it had no real shape, the cloud was knocked flying by the punch. It would be more accurate to call it a cocoon now.
Eerie cries rang out in a constant wail. The front of the cocoon split open, and cracks spread across it like a spiderweb.
The cocoon's defenses were weak—almost fragile. It had already begun to fall apart as it flew.
A huge body emerged from inside the cocoon, floating vertically in midair.
Its upside-down triangular shape had a front that gaped open like a cobra's hood, marked with eye-like patterns. It was hard to imagine what a creature this enormous could still hope to frighten.
Its gaping maw was full of sharp teeth, and a cruel light gleamed in its eyes. The air warped, and a blue orb of light shot out.
Jostar felt no danger at all. His still-burning right fist casually struck the orb from above.
The explosion scattered only a few flames and sparks of electricity. Amid the chaotic arcs and scorching embers, his eyes gleamed with a chilling, delighted glint.
"Pathetic."
Jostar let his hands hang casually at his sides, then shot forward at high speed.
Gazort, transformed from the Lightning People, didn't seem to know what danger was. It swept its fin-like arms through the air and charged straight at Jostar.
With its upside-down triangular body and gaping mouth, it looked like a carnivorous fish—just a little oversized.
Jostar was startled by the sight of this lanky little punk, who looked even more reckless than he was. He silently sped up. As energy surged through him, his body seemed to catch fire.
Just before they collided, Jostar shot upward, narrowly avoiding Gazort. Then, with his hands already poised, he formed a Lambda Light Blade and hurled it toward the ground behind him.
Gazort, which spent its days eating and being eaten in the ionosphere—and occasionally playing dead to fool its friends—wasn't clever enough to anticipate the move. The Lambda Light Blade curved around and showered its back with sparks.
The impact and pain hit at the same time. Unable to control its body, Gazort plunged straight down.
This was probably the first time the Lightning People who lived in the ionosphere had experienced weightlessness. The consequences, however, could be severe.
A cloud of dust billowed skyward. Pebbles and splinters of wood scattered in all directions like bullets, leaving the surrounding area in ruins.
Just then, the Jet VTOL 1 piloted by Daigo and Shinjoh arrived. Gazort stood rigidly upright, showing no sign of movement, as if Sir Isaac Newton's laws had no effect on it at all.
Behind it, a Gazort-shaped crater marked the ground.
It let out a horrible, pained cry, but its attacks didn't stop. A crescent-shaped plasma orb shot from its gaping mouth.
Jostar came diving down from the sky in a pose like the Leo Kick. As he plunged toward the ground, red flames flickered at his toe.
He made no attempt to dodge. Jostar slammed into the blue orb, but neither the impact nor the electricity could change his course. The sole of his foot crashed into Gazort's chest.
The tremendous force of his leg drove Gazort straight back into the crater.
The plasma orb wasn't particularly destructive. It could deal considerable damage to a fragile aerial-form Tiga, but Jostar wasn't so delicate.
His powerful muscles absorbed the meager damage. The plasma orb's attack felt as soothing as a lover's massage, and Jostar rolled his shoulders.
He didn't have a lover—or even a girlfriend—so he had no idea what that felt like. Still, he could imagine.
Gazort, lying in the crater it had made earlier, fell silent. The light in its eyes went out, and its constantly waving fins stopped moving. It looked as if it were dead.
But Jostar didn't believe it. When monsters died, didn't they usually explode into pieces? Didn't they break apart into chunks?
Were there monsters that died whole?
Electricity crackled wildly around his arms, like pure white lightning. With a motion of his arms, it transformed into a beam and struck Gazort where it lay.
The instant the beam hit, Gazort's eyes lit up briefly. Then it dissolved into countless motes of light.
Jostar didn't have Tiga's powerful beam, the kind that blasted monsters apart. All he'd learned from Nexus was how to turn an enemy into drifting motes of light.
In other words, his "weak" beam could only reduce an enemy to the molecular level.
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