Chapter 18
"The Land of Light? Ultraman King? You lot really know how to have fun!
"But since you're planning to create a Land of Light, there's nothing wrong with an army of monsters showing up to wreck things when it's founded, right?
"So I can't take all the blame for creating this monster army. All I can say is that you made the first move! Yes, that's exactly how it is!"
As Su Mo muttered to himself, shifting the blame onto Liu Dajun, Zoffy, and the others, he tossed every mosquito in front of Zoffy's group, keeping only a few females specifically for breeding.
In an instant, more than three thousand mosquitoes surrounded them!
The enormous Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes, combined with their terrifying numbers, formed a dark, dense cloud.
The buzzing of their wings beating in unison even made space itself tremble.
Cold glints flashed on their sharp mouthparts. Even the Giants of Light they were piloting had to be extremely careful around the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes' mouthparts.
Everyone's expression changed drastically as this army of mosquitoes suddenly appeared before them without warning and surrounded them.
Although their original purpose in coming out this time had been to exterminate all the mosquitoes around Blue Star.
That had only been before the meteor shower appeared. Now, they only wanted to leave-to leave Blue Star, to leave this star system!
Yet this mosquito army, which they had previously been unable to find no matter what they tried, had now appeared out of thin air right before them.
Given the situation, anyone who wasn't an idiot could tell that whoever was behind this had prepared it in advance.
And that person had only one objective: to keep them from leaving!
They even wanted to kill them all right here!
Zoffy's expression turned utterly grim as he surveyed the scene before him.
There were over three thousand Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes, and even the smallest was nearly three hundred meters long.
Meanwhile, their smaller Giants of Light were only a little over a hundred meters tall. Although these mosquitoes had no intelligence and their means of attack were very limited.
They themselves not only possessed formidable combat awareness, but their Giants of Light also carried dozens of high-energy weapons specifically designed to deal with them.
But there were simply too many!
Previously, they wouldn't have been afraid to face so many mosquitoes.
Because these mosquitoes not only lacked intelligence, but also couldn't cooperate. As soon as they charged in, the mosquitoes would scatter like birds and beasts.
Then they could work together to split the mosquitoes up and slowly eliminate them.
Original Ultraman turned to Zoffy. "Zoffy, what do we do now?"
Zoffy clenched his fists again and again before finally giving the order. "Triangular Spearhead Formation! Prepare the Ultra Light Wave! Follow me and break out!"
At Zoffy's command, three large Tigas took the lead, positioning themselves in a triangle. The other eighty-one smaller Giants of Light moved behind them, also arranging themselves in a triangular formation, while the two remaining large Tigas brought up the rear.
At the same time, all the Giants of Light crossed their arms over their chests. Terrifying power gathered in waves, until eighty-six terrifying beams of energy shot toward the dense mass of Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes ahead.
Wherever the light waves passed, the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes either exploded on the spot or were severed in two.
That single assault killed over three hundred Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes. Eighty against three hundred, and instant kills at that. There were only a little over three thousand mosquitoes in total, and one attack had wiped out a tenth of their fighting strength. Such results seemed incredibly impressive.
Yet Zoffy's expression was exceedingly grim, solely because their volley hadn't even broken through the formation of these mosquitoes, which normally started fleeing all over the universe the moment they were attacked.
Although he had already suspected as much when he made this decision, actually witnessing it was another matter altogether.
Most importantly, the Ultra Light Wave wasn't something they could fire whenever they pleased. It not only consumed an enormous amount of energy, but also took time to charge.
Failing to break through the mosquitoes' formation meant they would have to fight their way through by brute force!!!
Ordinarily, he wouldn't have feared fighting his way through, but their objective now wasn't to eliminate the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes. It was to escape!
As Zoffy's group assumed their formation, the mosquitoes also launched their attack, swarming toward them in a sky-blotting tide, heedless of their own lives.
Even though the Ultra Light Wave had eliminated the frontmost wave of mosquitoes, which had also been closest to them, the remaining number was still utterly terrifying to them.
In fact, upon encountering these Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes, Zoffy had considered reporting the news to Ultra V.
But he had ultimately rejected the idea, because they couldn't put any more pressure on Ultra V!
Besides, given their current circumstances, even if they reported it, Ultra V wouldn't be able to offer them any further help.
Rather than that, they might as well follow Ultra V's previous orders and carve a bloody path out!
One Tiga at the front punched two mosquitoes away, and a mass of terrifying flames flared on his hand, setting the surrounding mosquitoes alight. They were then kicked aside by the two giant Tigas behind him as they led the Giants of Light, which were only a little over a hundred meters tall, rapidly forward.
Yet the mosquito army was no pushover either. Although they could do nothing against the three thousand-meter-tall Giants of Light at the front, they could still fight the smaller, hundred-meter-tall Giants of Light behind them!
Huge and numerous, the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes constantly darted in from both sides, forcing their way into the formation.
Every person here was a veteran of countless battles. If they faced just one or two, or even three or four Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes on their own, they were confident they could kill them.
It would merely take a little longer. The main issue was the enormous difference in size; otherwise, they could have done even better.
But faced with the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes swarming toward them in an overwhelming tide, they could only defend passively.
A Starry Sky Giant Mosquito seized a Giant of Light firmly with its six long, slender legs, then viciously plunged its sharp mouthparts into its opponent's head.
At the same time, a nearby Giant of Light hurriedly drew a sword of light and cleaved the Starry Sky Giant Mosquito in two, but his comrade had already lost his life forever.
The Giants of Light had only two weaknesses. The first was the energy source in their chests. Without power, a Giant of Light was nothing but scrap metal, and if its energy source was destroyed, it would explode on the spot.
The second was the head, which housed the Giant of Light's cockpit. The people of the Ultra Empire were all inside.
If the Giant of Light in the control room died, then the Giant of Light would lose all power like a piece of scrap metal.
In just one charge, the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes had lost as many as seven hundred. Apart from the first volley, which had eliminated over five hundred Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes with the Ultra Light Wave.
The subsequent melee saw the Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes' losses begin to decrease, while the Ultra Empire's Giants of Light also began to suffer losses.
Against this many Starry Sky Giant Mosquitoes, especially with someone controlling them, even the three Tigas at the front were willing but powerless to stop them all.
"Fight your way out!"
"Stay close behind me! The way out is just ahead!"
"My energy system has collapsed! Brothers, I'll cover your retreat!"
[Bang~]
"For the glory of the Ultra Empire!"
"Lord Zoffy, I can no longer follow in your footsteps~"
Amid explosion after explosion and roar after roar, these seeds of hope for the entire Ultra Empire gradually fell along the road to a new home.
Meanwhile, within the Ultra Empire, Ultra V pulled himself together and began directing the operations of the entire empire.
He constantly adjusted their plans, trying to use everything they currently had to face the approaching meteors.
"Reporting in! The meteors have entered attack range. Fifteen minutes remain before they enter Blue Star's atmosphere. Shall we attack?"
Upon hearing this, Ultra V rubbed his tightly furrowed brow. "Fifteen minutes? Then attack. Whatever the cost, destroy as many meteors and monsters as possible before they enter the atmosphere!"
"Your Majesty, according to our rigorous calculations, if we blow up that moon, the resulting explosion might divert the meteor shower away from Blue Star."
"Can it be done?"
"If... if we still had the Giants of Light..."
Ultra V considered this for a moment. "If we concentrate all our firepower, is there any chance of blowing up that moon? Or could we use some other method to directly shift Blue Star's orbit and avoid these meteors?"
"According to our calculations, there is a sixteen percent chance of success, but there is also a seventy-nine percent chance that we won't be able to precisely control the blast wave after the moon explodes. There's also..."
"Blow it up!"
Ultra V spoke only those words, but they were as decisive as cutting through nails and iron.
"But if... if we choose to blow up the moon, we won't have any time left to attack the meteor shower..."
"Blow it up!"
"Yes! We guarantee we'll complete the mission!"
Su Mo, who had been watching both sides all along, was stunned when he heard this. Fuck, I only wanted to kill you, but you want to blow up my moon!
Are you even human?!
Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to make a moon?!
All sorts of things will happen if the moon blows up!
Fuck!
With that thought, Su Mo began pondering whether he should intervene to protect the moon in a moment.
If any other planet were blown up, Su Mo wouldn't care or worry in the slightest.
Because those planets weren't important. They were only resource planets to begin with, meant for the civilizations that developed to blow up for fun and mine for resources.
But the moon was different. If that thing disappeared, Blue Star's magnetic field would become unstable, and terrifying natural disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and typhoons would occur at the drop of a hat.
If Blue Star kept experiencing things like that, how could it develop a civilization?
Making another moon wasn't difficult. The trouble was incorporating the moon into Blue Star's orbit and binding it there, an extremely time-consuming process.
Converted into small-universe time, it would take at least five thousand years. Five thousand years!
That was enough time for him to nurture another five civilizations, so he absolutely couldn't let them blow up the moon.
While Su Mo was still thinking, the meteor shower had already reached the edge of the moon.
At the same time, a terrifying burst of light erupted from Blue Star, aimed straight at the moon.
Su Mo was still agonizing over how he should intervene, what method he should use, and whether intervening might be a little inappropriate, only to see that these bastards had already attacked.
Now he had no time to concern himself with all that. He simply reached out and blocked that terrifying mass of light.
Inside the Ultra Empire's highest laboratory, everyone stared fixedly at the surveillance feed before them.
Their hearts were filled with agitation, hope, and excitement. As long as this opportunity succeeded, the crisis of the meteors and monsters would be over.
But the next moment, everyone's mouths fell open in astonishment, while the room sank into deathly silence.