The Gijera used explosions to draw out TPC's armed forces and Ultraman.
It would have been fine if Yin Xi and the others had won.
At worst, they would just have to comfort the public afterward.
But unfortunately, they lost.
The Gijera could seize this opportunity to win over the people.
They could wildly spread rhetoric about how useless TPC was and how incompetent Ultraman was.
Even though people's suffering was caused by the Gijera in the first place.
Lured by the prospect of having their family and friends resurrected, they would still flock to them.
What was even more terrifying was that people could not vent their anger on the Gijera.
Yet people desperately needed an outlet.
The defeated TPC became the prime choice.
What if TPC had been just a little stronger?
What if TPC could have wiped out the Gijera directly?
Then not a single one of their family members or friends would have had to die.
And they themselves would not have had to kneel at the feet of the Gijera.
That was right—all of this was TPC's fault.
It was all Ultraman's fault.
Why couldn't they be stronger? Why couldn't they defeat the Gijera?
Once these thoughts took root, the crowd would turn their hostility toward TPC en masse.
Dawn broke.
The Angel's blessing ceased.
Down on the ground, some people wept with joy as they held their resurrected loved ones.
Others covered their faces and wept because they had missed their chance to receive the blessing.
"O God, please let down your light once more! We swear to follow your guidance unto death!"
Countless people fell to their knees beneath the Angel.
Yet the Angel remained unmoved.
"The Angel's power must be replenished. Once replenishment is complete, the miracles shall descend once again."
Beniko Oda finished speaking and vanished right where she stood.
Inside the GUTS command room, everyone stared angrily at the broadcast on the screen.
The Angel hung high in the air, and beneath it stood believers endlessly cursing TPC and Ultraman.
On the giant screen of the television tower, a man passionately clutched a microphone.
"What kind of garbage is GUTS anyway? If they had just surrendered to the Angel earlier, none of this would have happened."
"Exactly, exactly! And they kept saying Ultraman would protect humanity—didn't Ultraman just run away and abandon humans in the end?"
Watching the human curses on the screen, Camilla slowly closed her eyes.
[Humans really haven't changed at all.]
A dark aura gradually seeped out from her body, as if she might go berserk at any moment.
Suddenly, a warm, large hand grasped Camilla's slender, delicate fingers.
"Sister, look back."
The dark aura continued to spill forth.
Camilla's eyes were tinged with a streak of blood red.
Yet the moment she turned around, the leaking aura stopped dead.
Everyone in GUTS was looking at her, their eyes filled with worry and trust.
A flash of panic crossed Camilla's eyes, and she instinctively reached out to tidy her hair.
"I... I'm a bit tired. I'll take my leave first."
With that, without waiting for anyone to reply, she walked out of the command room on her own.
The surrounding dark aura quickly dissipated. The others wanted to say something, but in the end, no one spoke.
After all, if they were in her shoes, facing such accusations, they might have been even less composed.
"Captain, I'm going out to check on my sister."
Iruma Megumi nodded. "This time, we humans were in the wrong. But please, continue to believe in us. I'm begging you."
Hearing Iruma Megumi's words, Yin Xi stopped in his tracks, leaving only his back turned to her.
"Always."
Daigo, meanwhile, looked back up at the broadcast on the screen, lost in thought.
After leaving the base, Camilla changed into the casual clothes Rena had given her.
Stepping out of the GUTS Wing, she walked slowly over to the riverbank.
She rested her hands on the railing and gazed into the distance at the Angel hovering over the city.
This place was far enough from the battlefield that people here were still living their normal lives.
Suddenly, a small red balloon drifted into view from around a corner, blocking Camilla's line of sight for a moment.
Then, a soft, sweet voice rang out from behind.
"Big sister, you're so pretty."
Startled back to her senses, Camilla immediately searched for the source of the voice.
Looking down, she saw a little human toddler wearing a little white dress and tiny red leather shoes, staring up at her with big, watery eyes.
In the little girl's hand, she was still holding a red balloon.
Camilla curiously looked down at the little girl before her.
The little girl appeared to be about five years old. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of candy, offering it to Camilla.
"Big sister, have a candy. Smile, okay? Big sister must look really pretty when she smiles."
Hearing the little girl's words, Camilla unconsciously squatted down.
She took the candy from the little girl and gently patted her head.
"I'll listen to you, little one. Thank you, little sister."
Camilla's smile remained breathtakingly beautiful, leaving even the little girl staring in a daze.
After playing with the little girl for a moment, Camilla's mood was noticeably better.
As for Yin Xi, he had been watching from the sidelines the entire time ever since the little girl appeared.
After the little girl left, Camilla glanced in the direction where Yin Xi was standing.
Yin Xi didn't speak; instead, he walked toward Camilla with a smile on his face.
A lingering smile still hung on Camilla's face.
The atmosphere grew intensely tender.
Suddenly, the little girl's voice drifted back again.
"Mommy, the big sister just now smiled like a fairy! I saw a fairy big sister today!"
"Pfft."
Yin Xi was the first to chuckle.
Camilla felt a mix of embarrassment and anger.
"You—what are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing, nothing. Quite a cute little girl."
Camilla's face turned entirely red, and she reached out to grab Yin Xi's ear.
"Oh? You're getting bolder by the day, aren't you?"
Yin Xi hurriedly begged for mercy.
After a while, the two of them found a coffee shop.
"So, humans are just such a complex species. I won't ask you to accept those bad things, sister, but you can always look for the shining points in humanity."
Camilla didn't answer. She simply picked up the coffee in front of her and took a tiny sip.
The next instant, she spat it all out, giving Yin Xi a direct facial wash.
"What on earth is this disgusting stuff? It's bitter to death!"
Yin Xi: (*^?_?)
Just as he was about to say something else, Yin Xi noticed his communicator ringing.
After carefully reading the message sent by Iruma Megumi, his expression turned ugly as well.
The Far East Headquarters.
As a military stronghold, ordinary people were certainly not allowed here.
Yet now, wave after wave of citizens had arrived at the location.
Some of them held high banners, while others wore headbands.
They chanted continuously: "Useless GUTS, useless TPC! Give up the fight! Surrender to the Gijera! Surrender to the Angel!"
After reading the message, Yin Xi finally understood the reason.
Those idiots in the Japanese government felt that these citizens severely threatened Japan's rule.
They had forcibly dispatched the military to attack the Angel and brutally suppressed the believers in the city.
Yet the presence of the Angel was the sole hope left for those survivors who had lost their families.
This move completely ignited the anger of the victims.
The dispatched troops were easily dealt with by Mitsuo Itabashi.
Consequently, crowds continued to surge forward, screaming for TPC to surrender.
Normally, TPC would not obey orders from any single nation.
However, various countries had already infiltrated agents into TPC.
This had long been an unspoken understanding between the nations and TPC.
Everyone turned a blind eye to it.
What they hadn't anticipated, though, was that TPC's Director was a true director.
Sawai went nearly berserk, refusing to spare the Japanese government any dignity whatsoever.
He directly ordered the arrest of all higher-ups tied to the Japanese government.
In Sawai's heart, his foremost concern was the entire world.
With Earth facing such a crisis now, he didn't care whether he was Japanese; he only knew that he was an Earthling.