The Tiga Finale

Su He had combined Ultraman Tiga's final three episodes—"Fly Higher," "The Ruler of Darkness," and "To the Glorious People"—into one continuous story.

Today, the Sky Curtain opened on the boundless Pacific Ocean.

The rock surrounding R'lyeh, an ancient ruin dormant for thirty million years, broke through the water and slowly rose above the surface.

A vicious ancient bird, Zoga, flew out of the ruins.

Daigo and Rena immediately took off in WING 1 and WING 2 to intercept it.

But Zoga was too fast. After several exchanges, every attack missed, and Zoga struck the WING 1 Daigo was piloting.

With the mission a failure, the two could only return to TPC headquarters.

The scene shifted inside the TPC base.

A mysterious figure flashed past at the far end of a corridor.

Megumi Iruma hurried after the figure. Cornered at the corridor's dead end, the stranger slowly turned around.

The moment Megumi saw the stranger's face, her pupils contracted. The person before her looked exactly like her.

"Tell me. Who are you?" Megumi steadied herself, wary and bewildered.

The other Megumi remained expressionless, her voice hoarse and ethereal. "Zoga has awakened—the evil bird that will burn the earth. It will bring endless darkness and swallow this land whole."

"Endless darkness?"

Megumi frowned and repeated the words under her breath.

"It is a harbinger of destruction and sorrow. It will reduce everything to nothing."

Megumi stepped forward.

"Is this something from the distant past, or a prophecy of the future, leader of the Earth Defense Team?"

Megumi had clearly guessed who stood before her. As her words fell, the stranger's form warped. Light and shadow rippled around her until she became a translucent apparition.

It was Yurian, the Earth Defense Team's leader from thirty million years ago, who had appeared on the Sky Curtain the first day.

Back in her original form, Yurian no longer sounded like an emotionless machine. A trace of feeling entered her voice.

"I'm only a program. I can't predict the future."

"But didn't you perish along with your people?"

As soon as Megumi finished speaking, the faint light around Yurian dimmed, and she vanished into the air.

Megumi gathered herself. She could not afford to waste a moment, and immediately reported the information that concerned the survival of the entire world.

A plan was soon set: Daigo and Rena would pursue Zoga in the upgraded high-performance fighter Snow White; Munakata and Yazumi would provide support in WING 2; and Horii and Shinjo would take the Dolphin deep-sea submarine into the Pacific to uncover the secrets of R'lyeh.

The scene shifted again. Zoga had shaken off Munakata and Yazumi in WING 2.

Snow White continued the pursuit. Zoga's wings shuddered, and it climbed straight through layer after layer of cloud. In an instant, it entered the stratosphere at astonishing speed.

Snow White followed close behind.

Inside the cockpit, Daigo hurriedly warned her, "Rena! Snow White isn't equipped to leave the atmosphere. We have to turn back now!"

Rena ignored him. Her gaze stayed fixed on Zoga ahead, her fingers gripping the controls as she clenched her teeth and murmured over and over.

"Faster... just a little faster..."

"What's been going on with you lately, Rena? Talk to me!"

The next moment, Rena raised her voice, a sob catching in it. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to bear everything alone?"

"Just because you're an Ultraman, does that mean protecting Earth is your responsibility alone?"

"Daigo, you've been fighting all by yourself."

"Tell me. Don't you think that's wrong?"

Daigo murmured her name.

"Rena!"

"If I could, I'd want to become light too."

"To become light and fly higher."

On Douluo Star, countless beings watching the Sky Curtain nodded without realizing it.

Yes. We want to become light too.

Daigo trembled slightly. Deeply moved, he called softly, "Rena..."

Tears blurred Rena's vision.

"I can't... I can't turn back now."

"So go ahead. Transform."

Daigo gazed at the girl in front of him, his eyes gentle but resolute.

"You can become light too. You can."

With that, Daigo hesitated no longer. He raised his hand and took out the Sparklence.

Brilliant light burst forth, and Ultraman Tiga appeared in midair. He switched to his aerial form in a flash, cradled Snow White in one hand, and quickly caught up with Zoga.

Rena steadied herself in the cockpit and aimed Snow White at Zoga's flank. Its high-energy cannon roared, the shot piercing one of Zoga's wings.

The wing shattered. Zoga shrieked in pain, lost its balance, and plunged from the sky toward the ground.

Tiga dived after it. He carefully set Snow White down on safe ground, then turned to face Zoga.

Once it landed, Zoga whipped its head around and tore off its remaining wing with its sharp claws. Its blood-red eyes locked on Tiga.

Clearly, Zoga was more savage than any monster they had faced before.

The fight bore that out. Though Daigo's Tiga had grown considerably stronger, he still had to work hard to destroy Zoga.

The smoke cleared, and the danger passed for the moment.

The two looked at each other. Every hurt feeling, every worry, every longing melted away as they held each other tight.

Their bond reached a new height, marking the emotional peak of the entire series.

Gu Yuena watched the Sky Curtain without blinking. She was utterly absorbed—more so than she had been during Tiga's fierce battle with Zoga.

A soft gleam appeared in her cool eyes.

Su He glanced at her.

Yep. Douluo Star really is a world obsessed with romance.

She's watching the love story instead of the monsters.

While the two were still basking in the warmth of their victory, their communicator suddenly rang. Megumi's urgent voice came through. "Daigo, Rena, return to headquarters immediately! It's an emergency! Zoga are attacking locations across the globe at the same time!"

Rena whispered in disbelief.

"How is that possible? Didn't he just die?"

No sooner had she spoken than several Zoga flew across the sky above them.

The Sky Curtain began switching between scenes.

At least a hundred Zoga swept across the world, ravaging cities, destroying buildings, and slaughtering people.

In just one hour, the military forces humanity had built up over years were nearly wiped out.

Major cities fell one after another. The survivors could only huddle in underground shelters.

Fire and smoke covered the land, and the shadow of the apocalypse hung over the entire world.

Beyond the Sky Curtain, Douluo Star fell silent.

Every intelligent being held their breath and stared at the apocalyptic scenes, dread weighing on their hearts.

Just one Zoga had given the stronger Tiga a hard time.

With hundreds of Zoga—never mind Evil God Gatanozoa, who had yet to appear—the beings of Douluo Star could not imagine how humanity in Ultraman Tiga World could possibly turn things around.